Bound By Our Desires
by PhoenixClaw2128
Summary: The Chosen Four have saved the world and finally retired to their own lives. 23 years later, and Sapphire Starr's son, Akira Starr, falsely accused of a crime, has taken the mantle of Joker to steal the hearts of the corrupt and sinful. With Ruin approaching, the bonds of friendship, love, and family will be needed to stop the oncoming apocalypse. Sequel to Bound By Our Hearts.
1. Chapter 1: Our Beginning

**This is a sequel to Bound By Our Hearts, an Earthbound story, so I suggest reading that first. It's certainly possible to read this story without having read BBOH, but it does add context for several characters and events. Whether you have read the prequel or not, thank you for taking the time to read this, and enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 1: Our Beginning

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

_**? ? ?**_

"...Drug... strong..."

"...im up."

Cold water splashed on him. He wanted to react right away, shiver or jerk back, but his body wouldn't respond. He felt lethargic, slow. His mouth was numb and his tongue felt heavy in his mouth. He slowly managed to look up, feeling several bruises and cuts along his skin. His uniform and hair were matted to his face, and he blearily tried to make out what was around him.

He made out a camera with a red light in the corner of what looked to be a metal room, with three stern-looking men looking down on him. "No dozing off," one spoke, and he made to reach for his face, only to realize his hands were cuffed together, behind his chair. His heartbeat sped up and he struggled for a moment, causing the man to sigh. "You still don't get it, huh?" Before he could respond, the man kicked him hard, throwing him on his ass and sending the chair flying from beneath him. "Give it up!"

"Ngh!" He skid on the ground, feeling it scrape at his skin. The pain helped though, and small pieces of information began filtering back into his head. He was... stealing something... a briefcase... He remembered... some monster with guns and swords for arms? A boy with blond hair and a skull mask backing him up and shooting lightning from... something... Another boy with a white prince's outfit firing out holy light...

_"Joker, are you alright?!"_

_"Joker!"_

_"Kid?! Kid, answer me!"_

An escape, before being dogpiled by dozens of men... having the shit kicked out of him, him, a seventeen-year-old kid, by a group of adult men.

_"Cuff him!"_

_"Stop struggling!"_

_"You have your teammate to thank for this. You were sold out."_

Sold out.

He snarled, remembering... he couldn't remember, but he knew... something. Something that made him angry. The man in black suddenly stomped down on his head, and he cried out. "Come on, cooperate, or what, do you want another shot?"

His eyes drifted to an empty syringe. _Truth serum, _his mind suggested. "Don't need that to tell you how much of a little bitch you are," he coughed out. "What, beating teens like me help you get your jollies off, sick fuck?"

The man growled and reared back, kicking him in the face. He cried out as his nose bent the wrong way, and blood began leaking profusely. "Little shits like you are why I enjoy my job, punk."

"Oh, I'm sure... Y-You're an inspiration to dirty cops around the world," he choked out with a laugh. Anyone less stubborn than him would have shut their mouth to avoid any more beatings, but his family was damn stubborn, and seeing the man enraged pleased him more than the pain hurt him. The man scoffed and let him lay there, grabbing a clipboard from his cohort.

"Hmph. Let's see here... Obstruction of justice, blackmail, defamation, possession of weapons. Manslaughter too, yeah? Talk about the works." The man shook his head lazily, as though reading off his crimes was just casual talk with a friend.

"T-That's... a pretty good rap sheet you got there... How haven't you been arrested yet? Oh wait... lemme guess..." He hacked out a laugh between his wheezes, feeling his sore ribs groan in pain.

"I know you're drugged, but do you ever shut the hell up?"

"Nah, dad taught me that annoying your captors is the best way to get their guard down." He snickered and dragged himself to a wall, propping himself up against it. "Better be careful there, I don't think you want to see what I can do."

"To think so many crimes were committed by a punk like you... And you just seem to be enjoying it." The man scowled at his defiant attitude. "You should know your place."

"I know my place just fine, thank you... That'd be in your bed, fucking your wife. Lord knows you can't do it well enough. Must be why you're such an irritable bitch. Knowing a teen fucks her better than you ca—" He cackled before the man kicked him across the face again.

He groaned into the metal floor and felt his handcuffs be pulled from his wrists. He slowly pushed himself up, rubbing them until the clipboard was shoved into his face. "Sign here. It's a confession under your name."

"Sorry, I never learned how to read," he sneered, smacking away the hand holding the board.

"I see..." The man sighed, standing up, before stomping down on his leg. He grimaced, biting his lip and refusing to scream. His legs were sore and he felt they could break at any moment, but he wouldn't give the man the satisfaction. Said man looked disappointed but still shoved the board into his hands again, alongside a pen. "I need your hand to sign this… But I don't care if you end up losing a leg." The man didn't let up until he grabbed the board, and he let off a soft sigh as the pressure was relieved. Was that how Ryuji had felt when his leg had been broken by Kamoshida?

He closed his eyes briefly. Ryuji? Kamoshida? Who... He shook his head, staring at the pen and contemplating stabbing the man, but... Something in the back of his mind warned him against that. That wasn't the plan... He sighed, and finally signed his name.

_Akira Starr._

When he finished writing, the man took back the clipboard, before leaning down to sneer in his face. "Don't expect to walk out of here in one piece," the agent threatened, grabbing him by his blazer collar. "We're going to make you understand. One must take full responsibility for their actions."

He scoffed. "If that's what you think, I won't dissuade you of your little delusions." More was coming back. He didn't have everything, but he remembered... A smirk grew on his face. The man scowled at that and made to slap it away before a knock on the door stopped him.

The agent opened the door and Akira strained his ears to listen, but all he could hear was "Niijima." For some reason, his heart lifted.

It was all coming together, wasn't it?

The next thing he knew a table and two chairs were placed in the room, and he was dragged and thrown into one of them. The lady across from him vaguely matched up with his hazy memories, beautiful, with silver hair and wearing a professional business suit."I didn't expect it'd be you," she admitted.

If she was as good as he was told, then she had probably known a little information on him from the records that she could dig up in a short amount of time. Akira Starr, transfer student on probation and staying under Sojiro Sakura. The crime he'd committed was aggravated assault and was expelled from his previous school to live in Tokyo for a year. Near perfect attendance at Shujin Academy with straight A's. Found predominantly at Leblanc, Or involved in various activities around the city with his friends. One of which being her sister. A smirk grew. That likely didn't sit too well with her. He was too close to home. "You'll be answering my questions this time."

His mind swam again as he responded, and it took all he had to not throw up. He hoped he'd said some witty line though... She glanced down at the syringe on the ground and scowled, muttering to herself. "Bastards... Can you hear me? It seems you've been through a lot."

"Don't worry, you're coming in loud and clear... Just my output that's a bit muddled," He smirked. "By the way, had some great fun with your friends there. I think that one guy had a complex... Kept talking about getting back at me for banging his wife." He coughed out a laugh as Niijima shook her head.

"I'll assure you right now, I had nothing to do with those barbaric methods." She didn't much enjoy his accusatory tone. It probably didn't feel good to be judged by a 'punk' like him. "Almost anything can happen here, and I can't stop them."

"Of course, of course... Well, shall we get down to business, Nii-ji-ma-san?" He grinned as he drew out her name and added a san, taunting her.

"Very well." She sighed before continuing. "Then I need you to answer me honestly. I don't have much time either. What was your objective? Why did you cause such a major incident? I didn't think it was a prank from the get-go, but I couldn't assemble a case for the prosecution. It's because I couldn't figure out the method behind it."

"Well, of course you couldn't," he scoffed, mirth dancing through his eyes.

"That is true, I wouldn't exactly be convinced of that world through just reports."

"Reports don't exactly do it justice," he chuckled.

"In any case..." She leaned forward and narrowed her eyes. "When and where did you find out about that world? How is it even possible to steal another's heart? Now, tell me your account of everything. Start from the very beginning."

"Well..." He leaned back, sorting through his hazy memories to start his recount. "Let's begin..."

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•The Fool's Wild Card•

_4/9, Saturday_

Akira sighed as he scrolled through his phone, waiting for the train to reach its destination. "Next stop: Yongen-Jaya." He looked up, reading the kanji to make sure he heard right, before putting his phone away and getting up. He'd been lucky to grab a seat, the trains in Tokyo being infamously packed. He knew this even though he'd lived on the opposite side of the planet for most of his life, which probably showed just how bad it was.

When the train stopped he got off with an army of people, with a similar number shoving past to get on. He glared at them with silver eyes, causing several to flinch away from his sharp stare, before making his way to an escalator. He knew that they probably had somewhere to be, but that didn't mean he was okay with being shoved around like that. Well, most of the time, maybe. He was notorious for being one of the more calm and serious kids in his school back home.

Right now, he was still pissed off. It wasn't as bad as it had been when the incident first occurred. Hell, he'd ranted and raved, infuriated. Now, it was a… calm rage. He'd just be a bit prickly for a while.

As he entered the back streets of Yongen-Jaya, he looked around, before spotting a police officer. "Excuse me, sir," he asked in perfect Japanese, only slightly hesitant about asking the policeman after the... _last _incident he had with one. "Could you point me to Sojiro Sakura's residence?"

The gruff-looking officer nodded. "Down that way, past the staircase. But at this time of day, he'll be in his coffee shop, Leblanc. It's just down this alley."

"Thank you, sir." He turned down the alley mentioned and noticed the shop straight away. It had an awning with the name of the shop on it in dark colors, with a menu and a few plants outside. He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. At least it wasn't all bright and pretty. It was pretty ironic that two people that were so bright in both personality and clothing and such had a kid who preferred darker themes and clothes.

He entered the shop, setting off the bell on the door, and looked around. The inside of the shop seemed nice enough and was occupied by three people. Two were an elderly couple at a booth eating, while the third was a middle-aged man reading a newspaper and sitting on a chair at the counter. Although, given the fact that he wore an apron, Akira just assumed that he was Sakura-san.

"Excuse me?"

The man murmured to himself as he wrote something on the paper. "…five letter word…"

"Are you Sakura-san?"

The man looked up when he heard his name and blinked behind his glasses. "Oh yeah, that was today…" Akira furrowed his brow at the thought of just being an afterthought but held his tongue. Best to be good for now, and if the guy was still a dick… well, it's not like he had to get along with the guy, just survive for a year. "I'm Sojiro Sakura. But either call me Boss or Sakura-san. Most people do."

"Right. It's nice to meet you, Sakura-san."

"Hm. I'm sure you know why you're here."

"Yeah, some real bullshit," he murmured, before speaking up. "Yeah, I know."

"And your parents asked me to house you because I owe your father a favor, so I accepted."

"Thanks for that."

Before they could continue, the elderly couple stood up and thanked Sakura-san for the food, before leaving some money on the table and exiting the shop. Sakura-san turned back to him and nodded. "Anyway, I'll take you up to your room."

"I'm going to live here, in the coffee shop?"

"There's a room in the attic. It's bigger than the ones in my house."

"I guess if I get a large room then I can't complain." He followed the man up the stairs, and beheld a… very cluttered room. He struggled with words for a moment, before muttering, "well, it's certainly big." Garbage bags, dust, and clutter were everywhere. Big, yes, but messy.

A small smirk grew on the man's face before he shook his head. "It's up to you to clean the rest up. That box is your belongings, what your parents sent over. I'll at least give you sheets for your bed." He nodded towards a mattress on the other side of the room.

"Gee, thanks."

"I'll be leaving after I lock up each day," Sakura-san nodded. "You'll be alone at night, but don't do anything stupid. I'll throw you out if you cause any trouble."

He finally glared at the man, his patience wearing thin. "Listen, I know. I'm not exactly going to risk anything right now. I'll go to school, come back, go to sleep, repeat, repeat. If that's it, I'm going to clean up then go to bed."

Sakura-san blinked as he tossed his bag across the room and onto the bed, before grabbing the box and beginning to empty it. "Well… I suppose that's a good idea. I'll be taking you to Shujin, your new school tomorrow. Get some rest."

"Yeah, yeah." Sakura winced slightly, thinking that maybe he might have laid it on a bit thick. Either way, the kid needed to learn that sometimes you shouldn't stick your nose in other people's business, even if it's to help them.

Akira listened as Sakura-san walked down the stairs, moving some of his clothes onto a cluttered desk. He turned around to survey the room, before cracking his neck. This would take a while.

He was wrong. It had taken more than a while. By the time that he'd finished cleaning, the sun had gone down. But at least the room looked… still cluttered in some places, but for the most part, it looked like your average room. He slipped into sweatpants and a t-shirt as he got ready for bed, slinging his casual clothes onto an empty table.

He sat down on his new bed, looking around the room. One year… then, he could go home. All because of _that fucking—!_

He breathed in to calm himself, looking down to see he'd nearly ripped his new sheets already, his hands having bunched them up while he clenched them. Whatever. There was nothing he could do about it now. Hopefully, this Shujin Academy had some sports teams he could use to vent his frustrations.

His heart clenched once again at that thought. He was an intelligent and studious kid, preferring isolation rather than spending time with large groups of people, but that didn't mean that he didn't go outside, or enjoy some sports. He'd followed in his father's footsteps and tried out for the baseball team at his old school and did reasonably well, but he positively shone in clubs and on teams like the wrestling club. It helped that his father's close friend was an incredible fighter, and since they were close enough that the man was practically his blood-uncle, the man happily taught him some moves.

All of those trophies sitting at home were now gathering dust. Well, his mother would absolutely be cleaning them every day, if only for when he got home, but it was the principal of the thing. He shook his head and thought about all of the books and games he'd left behind as well. Oh sure, his mother helped him pack a few books, and his father even sent along his gaming system and a few discs, but it still felt nothing like home. Probably for the best. While he might eventually settle in, he was dead-set on not allowing this place to become his home.

He reached up and removed his glasses, placing them on the windowsill. He stared at them for a moment, thinking, before slumping back into bed. He brought his phone out to check the time and set an alarm. He liked getting up early to get ready for the day, and he didn't know when they'd be leaving to go to the academy, so he'd simply set an alarm for his usual time of six-thirty.

His phone vibrated as he got a message, and he quirked an eyebrow until he saw who it was from. He smiled and opened up his messaging app to respond.

**Dad—** Howdy

**You—** Hey.

**Dad—** You settling in alright? I'm not sure what time it is over there but it's like twelve hours ahead or something right?

**You—** Yeah, about. I'm getting ready to sleep, going to my new school tomorrow.

**Dad—** Sorry I couldn't come myself

**You—** It's fine, I understand. You all had to get back home. I can't believe this crap happened in the few days we were visiting Japan.

**Dad—** Well I also want you to know that all of us miss you, and we completely believe that you're innocent. We'll try and visit as much as we can, but with baseball season having started this fucking month well you know

**Dad—** And delete that last message don't let your mom see I was cursing in our texts

**You—** I'm screenshotting it and sending it to Mom.

**Dad—** There will be nowhere to run if you do so, you shall suffer endless agony

He snorted, shaking his head. His dad liked to be really dramatic, but he was grateful for that, at least right now. It took his mind off of everything.

**You—** Whatever. And use more commas, I can't understand anything you're typing.

**Dad—** That's why autocorrect exists

**You—** You are the definition of lazy.

**You—** Whatever. Say hi to Mom for me.

**Dad—** I will. Make some friends over there as well. you might as well get something from this year.

**You—** Yeah, maybe. I'll try. Night, dad.

**Dad—** G'night, kiddo. Love you.

**You—** What, you'll use an apostrophe for 'G'night,' but can't use commas?

**You—** Whatever. I love you too. Night.

He closed the app and sighed. He understood why his family couldn't be there. They had been on a trip to Japan when the incident occurred, a small vacation, and whoever the asshole that he'd fucked with was, he was apparently influential enough and had enough of a grudge, to stick him in a school on the opposite side of the world from his home out of spite or some shit. Unwillingly, his mind briefly returned back to that night.

_A man's voice. "Just get in the car!" It sounded slurred. Whoever it was was probably drunk._

"_Stop it!" A woman now. Nearly hysterical. He could put together the pieces from there._

_He found them, arguing in front of an expensive-looking car. The woman struggling away from the man, while he gripped her forearm. He stepped between them, causing the man to loosen his grip, and before he could regain his balance, fall back and bash his head on a guardrail._

_The woman gasped, and the man gripped his now bleeding head, glaring at him. "Damn brat! I'll sue!"_

_He'd laughed. The man was drunk, and the woman would side with him for saving her. Police sirens were getting close. It would be over soon._

_He'd been half correct, half not. It was over in a flash, yes. But the man wasn't being arrested. He was. He stumbled as the police dragged him by the arms towards their car, staring at the woman who was pointedly not meeting his eyes, tears running down her face. _

A small chime caused him to come back to reality and raise an eyebrow, as he looked to see that the odd app he'd deleted earlier in the day was back. It was a stylized black and red-eye, with a star for a pupil. It kept showing up, and he wasn't quite sure how to get rid of it. "Might have to reboot my phone," he muttered. He selected it and dragged it to the trash can icon, getting rid of it once again. He frowned as he remembered the odd vision he'd seen in Shibuya Crossing, but shook his head and dismissed that. Most likely just a daydream...

He watched as his phone deleted the app once again and sighed. He hoped his phone wasn't being hacked or something. Why did this have to happen now?! He groaned and tossed his phone onto the window sill, turning over. His eyes began to close, and he felt himself drift off to unconsciousness, but not without one last thought. A wish. A desire. His father's text, saying to make friends. He truly wished it would come true. This year would be hell… but with friends by his side? Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. And with that, he drifted off to sleep.

However, it wasn't true sleep. His mind drifted to an unknown place, a prison, clad in blue velvet. He shot up and looked around, confused, feeling the scratchy material of a black and white prison uniform rubbing at his skin. He made to reach out, but couldn't stretch his hands apart, and looked down to see his hands were in chains, as well as his feet.

He looked around, trying to see where exactly he was. Aside from the velvet walls and the chains that hung from them, there was a toilet and his small wooden prison bed, plus a chained up door. He attempted to make his way to it but grunted when something tugged on his leg. He looked back and saw an iron ball attached to his leg shackles, and struggled to move it so he could close in on the door. Once he did, he spotted three people. Two of them were small girls, twins, with blond hair and golden eyes, wearing blue uniforms with eye patches covering one eye for each girl. And in the center of a large room with several other cells, sat an odd-looking man at a desk with several papers, smiling at him creepily. He had elf-like, pointed ears, with bulging bloodshot eyeballs and a full toothed smirk.

"Trickster… Welcome to my Velvet Room… This room takes shape based upon the state of your heart... To be a prison such as this, you truly are a prisoner of fate." The man's voice was deep and menacing, sending a chill down his spine as his danger senses began blaring, but he managed to ignore that for the moment. The man was dangerous…

"Happy to be here," He replied, dry sarcasm clear on his voice as his mind whirled trying to understand what the man was talking about. "The chains really bring the room together." He looked down towards the two children and he scoffed. "Lolis as wardens? Have I finally been caught by the Lolice?"

The man simply chuckled at his words, while one of the little girls slammed an electrified baton into his cell bars, causing him to hiss in pain. "How dare you speak out so rudely like that!"

The man simply held up a hand to silence her and continued looking deep into his eyes with an unwavering glare. "Now… let us get down to business… Ruin is fast approaching."

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•The Chariot's Muscle•

As the Wild Card spoke with the denizens of the Velvet Room, across the city a boy with dyed blond hair stayed up playing video games. He wasn't what one would call an idiot, but he definitely wasn't the brightest person in a room at any given point in time. He should have been studying, but with how his life had been going for the past few years, as well as the fact that studying put him straight to sleep, he never found the time.

As he continued to play, he thought about his plans for the next day. He didn't have any friends, as everyone at his school thought of him as a troublemaker, thug, and delinquent, so even if he couldn't spend time with anyone, at least he was always free on Sundays! He let out a small sigh as he tried to make his boring life sound even slightly better, before giving up.

Honestly, he'd probably drop out of school soon. He didn't do well grade-wise, and the only reason he had even gotten into the prestigious academy he went to was because he was a fast runner, and had been the star of the track team. But, with the track team disbanded, and what had happened to his leg, there really was no point. Maybe he could try and find a job to help support his single mom after his bastard of a father had up and left them, but he wasn't sure. Would anyone hire someone like him? Especially if he became a high school dropout?

No… it was probably better to just slog through the rest of school, then use his high school diploma to try and get a job, no matter how little it paid. He'd heard some alright things about Big Bang Burger, or maybe that Mach Pizza place. Using a moped for deliveries at least sounded a bit fun. He snapped back to reality as the game declared him the loser of the match, and he sighed as he shut it off. He slipped into his bed and stared at his ceiling, wishing for someone, something, anything, to give him a bit of meaning, before drifting off.

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•The Emperor's Forger•

As the Thug drifted off, a lanky, sophisticated boy with short, dark blue hair went over his art supplies as he put them away for the day. He wanted to make sure he lost none of them, each was expensive and required delicate care. They were not just tools, but parts of him, which he used to bring out both the hidden beauty of the world, and the beauty that most saw every day, but simply thought nothing of.

As he put away his last brush— cleaned thoroughly of course! He turned back to his latest painting absentmindedly. It was of a mountainside, with trees framing the sides of the portrait and a sunset bathing the landscape in yellows and oranges and reds. And it was so odd… as when he'd painted that very mountain, it had been midday, with birds flying overhead… had his emotions… well of course they had. Art involved emotion, much of it! But… why had he been feeling anger?

"Ah, very well done!" Ah. Yes. His Sensei observed his painting with a smile. His anger, pushed down to his core… because of this. But he could not let it happen again! He should be grateful to his Sensei, giving him a place to rest, to live! Giving him his artwork… was acceptable. Wasn't it? If his Sensei was suffering such a terrible artist's block, then the least he could do was give him his work, until he could recapture his passion! It was fine…

An hour later, he lay back in his small bed, observing the roof of his shack, quietly contemplating, and wishing for the answer to his query.

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•The Priestess' Analyst•

The Artist drifted away from the waking world, while another girl sat at her desk, working. She had short brown hair and was still in her school uniform even this late at night. What she was working on was completely irrelevant, as she had already finished her homework for the entirety of the next week, and was now working on the _next _week's homework. And of course, once she was done with that. She'd be moving on to the next.

After all, she needed to be the best, and then get into a prestigious college. She needed to do well as her sister had always told her. Although, perhaps she could take a break from that, to work on something else. The principal had informed her of a new second-year transfer student, a boy with a criminal record. Why their school had to take him in, she didn't know, but she would have to keep an eye on him. As the Student Council President, she was responsible for her fellow students, and would not let some thug disrupt the school. It was what she was told, after all. To keep an eye on him.

His picture looked rather normal. Messy, raven black hair, bright… silver eyes? Maybe those were contacts? Above-average height of five feet and ten inches, although considering he wasn't Japanese, he was just above the average height and not several inches above it. His school records stated that… he had been first in his grade regarding academics his whole life? That must be a mistake. A thug like him couldn't possibly have such good grades! But his school clubs at least partially matched, as he had been in a few clubs, with clubs like wrestling and boxing… So he was still athletic. At least that matched his record… still, could something have been wrong?

No, she decided, shaking her head. The adults were _always _right. She ignored the niggling doubt and got ready for bed. After all, tomorrow was Sunday, and she could do more work then. It would be more productive as well, after a good rest. She lay down, ignoring the voice in the depths of her mind wondering if they were truly right, and fell into a deep sleep.

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•The Empress' Heiress•

As the Strategist slept, a rich girl with pale auburn hair smiled as she tended to several flowers blossoming on her balcony. She had curly, fluffy hair that went to her shoulders, and wore a sweater and sweatpants as her pajamas. She could have had much more expensive clothing such as a fancy nightgown, but what she was wearing was comfortable!

As she tended to her plants, she felt her smile wane slightly as she thought about a conversation she'd had earlier in the day, with her father. She was to be wed soon. Not right away, maybe not even for several months, but apparently her father had found a suitable candidate for an arranged marriage that would strengthen their company. She'd nodded along and said yes where appropriate. Her father knew best, after all.

She simply needed to go along with him, and everything would be fine. She hoped. There was a niggling doubt that she had to push down. There was no point in complaining, her father absolutely knew best! And he cared for her! He loved her!

…Right?

She shook her head and put away her watering can. She just needed to accept it… she pushed away her doubts, climbing into her large bed and sighing as she lay in her comfortable sheets. But even with the doubt pushed all the way down, there was desire bubbling in her core… she wished to be her person, free to choose her destiny. Maybe one day, she could find someone to help her do so.

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•The Magician's Infiltrationist•

As the Heiress dreamt the night away, a small creature snuck through a castle. The depressing atmosphere and slaves bound in chains and metallic masks didn't distract the small creature as he dipped from cover to cover. He needed to find it. The Treasure. Maybe then… well, he'd deal with that when he came to it.

There! A Shadow was ahead of him, patrolling a corridor. He smirked and snuck up behind it, before summoning his curved sword to his hand, and leaping up the back of its armor. It yelled as it felt him before he brought his sword around and cut off its mask. It fell to the ground in a heap of black ooze, before forming into a jack-o-lantern creature. He smirked, summoning his inner self to blast it with wind, putting out its flame and knocking it out. With that done, he continued on.

He did not know who he was, and his form was not that of a human, but he _knew_ deep down that he was one, and if he could reach the bottom of that place… of the mysterious Mementos…

Clang!

He cried out as something slammed into the back of his head, and he bounced along the ground. Damnit! He'd gotten careless! There was another guard! He tried to get up, but it stomped down on him, knocking him out. As he drifted off, struggling to stay awake, one thought, one wish, echoed through his mind. He needed someone, anyone, to help him… to find his true self… to reach the depths of Mementos…

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•The Hermit's Hacker•

As the Infiltrationist was knocked out, a girl with long red hair and glasses typed away at her computer, a magnificent stream of data flowing from it, and reflecting against her eyes and glasses in the dark room. But… it was another dead end. She wouldn't give up though, not yet. She'd find the data, the research… because…

She winced as pain lanced through her head, past voices echoing through her mind.

"_She never wanted you…"_

"_You should just die!"_

"_She committed suicide."_

"_YOU DESERVE TO DIE!"_

She whimpered and hid her head, clutching at her headphones to block out the unheard noise. It was fake! It wasn't real! It wasn't… she wasn't sure how long it took, but eventually, it stopped. She breathed out, looking back up at the government website she'd hacked into. She sighed and retraced her steps, careful to leave no evidence of hacking at all as she exited their servers. With her safely out, she quickly closed that tab, blushing as it revealed another tab with… questionable videos on it, and closed that one too. She forgot she had that open and it surprised her, but so what? Everyone watches… _that_ now and again!

She shook her head and got out of her chair that she'd been crouching in, and jumped into her bed. The search… wasn't going perfectly, but she'd find the information soon. Hopefully. As she sighed and closed her eyes, she felt a wish in her heart… a desire to be cured of this… this madness that clutched at her. This depression…

She wished for someone to get rid of this feeling… This feeling that she deserved to die…

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•The Lover's Con Artist•

As the Hacker turned over and over in her bed, a beautiful girl with long, flaxen colored hair finished putting on her pajamas as she got ready for bed. She would be going to the mall with her best friend the next day, so she wanted to make sure she got plenty of rest. Well, she usually did, considering her job as a model, but she still wanted to make sure she had enough energy to have fun for a whole day. Maybe they could get some crepes together to start the day!

She, like the first blond, wasn't the brightest, but she was still a bit brighter than the boy, at least in one subject. As her parents were famous fashion designers, she'd moved around a lot, before her parents had gotten a place in Japan. Although they still left for long periods, at least she was in one place for more than a few weeks, finally. One of the only good things that came from moving so much was that she knew more English than most people in her grade, but that didn't help much when her other grades were barely average. She was fine with her parents being gone for long periods though. She knew that they loved her, and their jobs simply required them to be away for long periods. It gave her freedom, and if she ever needed anything, she did have a caretaker, but… sometimes, she was still lonely. Just a bit.

Life was difficult enough at the moment, but as long as she had her friend, she could keep fighting for as long as she needed. Eventually, they'd get out of Shujin, eventually, they could have their own lives, away from… him. Her smile wavered before she shook her head and smacked her face. "Come on, don't let him ruin your mood like this… he ruins enough already, so don't give him this…"

Her smile was wiped off her face as her phone vibrated, and she saw the texter's ID. Of course it was him… he was asking if she was free the next day. Damn it… damn him! She squeezed her eyes shut, before opening them and typing out a response. Simply not answering and pretending she didn't see it might be fine in the short term, but when she saw him again on Monday… she shook her head and typed something back about a last-minute shoot that would take most of the day.

His reply was his normal disappointment that they couldn't spend time together, with an undertone that he knew what she was doing. But that might have simply been her imagination. She just couldn't tell anymore… she wanted this all over!

She turned over in her bed and looked out the window, coincidentally directly in the direction of the Yongen-Jaya district, where the Wild Card was learning of Ruin, unknown to all around him. She dragged her covers over her head, and tried to block out the world, wishing for someone who could help her out of this… dark point.

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•The Sinner's Grail•

The wishes of the masses were granted by him. The time has almost come. Rehabilitation would begin. Two Chosen would battle within the coming months, and his creation, who'd infiltrated His Sanctuary, where He would be safe, would aid Him, give Him power. His opponent was experienced, and He would need training to make the fight, the Rehabilitation, a true contest.

"The Holy Grail…"

"Thank you…"

"It's beautiful…"

As the Masses praised his glory from their cells within the Prison of Regression, he felt nine wishes… no, ten. Ten different wishes. Six boys. Four girls. The Wild Card, his Chosen, and eight who didn't matter. But their wishes were all odd. Their desires. Unlike those wishing to be chained down by his glory and led, or those he allowed to escape his Prison for their desires that outgrew the wish to be imprisoned, they wished for… yes, selfish things, but also help.

Their shadows, he could sense, weren't trying to get to his Prison. Two did not have a Shadow, having already awakened to their Personas, one had made peace with his Shadow but had not yet Awakened, while the seven others drifted through the upper areas, above even the Path of Qimranut, slowly drifting downwards, but with no hurry. Yet. They had no desire to reach his glory, but with time…

Yet, this could be useful… the Trickster wouldn't just need training to match his rival, but allies, to aid him along the way. Even with his aid and several months, he most likely would not be able to keep up with the Caller of Chaos. Yes… he would heed their wishes. He would alter fate so they would meet, become strong together. It would only be a matter of time.

And his rival, who also wished for aid? Perhaps he would make them meet. Converse. To see an enemy's perspective is important to both sides. Who knows what may come of it? Though he may be a God of Control, he could not see the future, only predict it, with his immeasurable knowledge. His plan would work out. All of the pieces were set. Rehabilitation had begun. Would Ruin be prevented?

The Holy Grail began glowing.

* * *

**Yeet yeet new story.**

**This is a sequel to Bound By Our Hearts as I wrote at the beginning, and while there aren't many connections yet, they'll come in time through previous characters, PSI, and things like that. I hope you enjoyed the titles of each segment, using each Thief's signature Tarot Card and their role, like how Joker represents the Fool Tarot and his Wild Card ability makes him... well, the wild card, or Ryuji has the Chariot Tarot and is the muscle of the Thieves.**

**I will be putting these chapters out slowly, perhaps once per month slowly, but since this is more like a prologue than anything else, I'll also be putting out the second chapter shortly. Although Royal will be coming out in March, I've heard that not much changes at the beginning of the game. By slowly putting out updates, I make time to write chapters for my other stories, while also having time to see what changes in late-game and rewrite plot around those points. And if there are changes early on that matter, I'm sure I can write around them. And even after Royal comes out, I have two other stories I have an obligation to, especially after making people wait a long time to update those.**

**Anyway, leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read. See y'all next time.**


	2. Chapter 2: The Pillager of Twilight

Chapter 2: The Pillager of Twilight

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Akira•

_4/11, Monday_

Akira huffed as the rain splattered down onto him, wetting his hair and clothes. It wasn't a true downpour, it wasn't heavy enough to chill him to the bone, but it was still slightly annoying. Normally he enjoyed the rain, and he would sometimes stand outside and let rain droplets run down his face to help calm him down when he was angered or upset, but that was when he didn't have somewhere to be or had to sit in one chair all day for several hours, feeling the uncomfortable squelch of his clothes.

He'd taken cover beneath an awning, hiding from the gray clouds above literally just a few minutes away from his school. The sudden rain had caught him in the open after he'd left the train station, and he had to wring out the ends of his blazer, before shaking his hands. Several students ran past, some thinking it'd be better to run to the school rather than wait it out, and others sharing an umbrella with a friend. He eyed them as they passed, weighing the pros and cons of asking another student to squeeze under their umbrella and maybe making a new friend, before leaning back against the store and crossing his arms and closing his eyes, waiting for the rain to stop pitter-pattering against the ground.

Footsteps reached his ears instead, and he cracked an eye open to see someone step under the awning next to him, shaking out his or her hands. They wore red tights, with the Shujin academy blazer over a sports hoodie. They reached up and pulled down their hoodie with light-colored hands, revealing flaxen-colored hair and—

He immediately stood ramrod straight, turning his gaze away. _Holy shit!_ He felt heat rise along the back of his neck and flailed his hands around, not sure what to do with them, first waving them near his pockets, then moving to wrap them around the back of his neck, then moving to clasp them together, then simply sticking them in his pockets. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, trying to see if she'd noticed— because it was a _beautiful girl!— _his mad flailing.

She hadn't, thankfully, instead looking out at the rain with a frown. Her eyes slid to his, and he was immediately lost in their cyan color, and just barely noticed the small smile she gave him, causing his heart to skip a beat. _Keep your cool, keep your cool, keep your cool! _Jesus, he probably looked like an elementary schooler who'd just seen his crush. Hell, he bet that he looked like an idiot! Wait, you're just standing there! _SMILE BACK!_

After he did so, the girl turned away, and he did the same, internally groaning about how childish he must have looked. He heard a chime in his pocket and frowned as he pulled out his phone, to see the odd eye app back on it. He let out a quiet sigh and made to delete it again before the girl spoke to him. "So… are you new to Shujin?"

Akira blinked and began speaking, remembering halfway through his sentence to speak in Japanese and not English. "Ah, yes, yeah, I am, yes." He blushed and cleared his throat, "I'm transferring, second year. What about you?"

"I'm a second year as well," she answered. He nodded at her answer, idly noting he was a few inches taller than the girl even when he stopped standing like he had a pole stuck up his ass. "Where are you from?"

"I'm from Onett, it's a small town in Eagleland."

"Wow, you speak great Japanese for someone from Eagleland."

"Yeah, I have an uncle who lives further east, he's fluent in English and Japanese, so he helped me learn both. And another uncle who lives in Winters… actually, a lot of my family is good with languages." He chuckled as he thought about them. They weren't related by blood, but they were such close friends with his father that they were essentially family.

"Your family sounds nice." He hesitated a moment when she said family, feeling himself become guarded before he attempted to shrug it off. No one here would know about that! Stop worrying about it! Before he could answer, she changed the subject, and he blinked in surprise. He was normally hard to read when it came to family stuff, so had she noticed him become closed off, or was she just randomly changing the subject? Either way, he rolled with it. "Well, how are you liking Japan?"

"It's… certainly an experience. Tokyo is much more crowded than my hometown. Honestly, I almost had a panic attack going through that one big intersection, ah, Shibuya Crossing?" He let out a shudder, partially faking it for comedy, and partially not, remembering how massive that crowd had been. When the girl giggled at him he grinned, pride swelling.

"Yeah, I guess that can be pretty confusing if you came from a small town."

He smiled, before thinking of something. He hadn't asked her name! Then again, he'd never really gone and asked someone their name. How did you go about doing it? What if he made it awkward? Gah! Whatever, as his father said, when in doubt, fall back onto humor and sarcasm! He adopted a rich person's tone, scrunching up his nose. "By the way, I must have forgotten my manners. I haven't even asked your name!"

She laughed at his tone and held a hand out. "I'm Ann Takamaki. It's nice to meet you." Ann Takamaki. Takamaki-san. Amazing.

He kept his smirk up, giving her a deep bow, crossing one arm in front of his chest and the other behind him back. "It's very nice to meet you, Milady."

She laughed. "Quit it!"

He prepared to give his name, a distant fear that she would recognize it surfacing before he squashed it down. "I'm Akira. Akira Starr."

"Starr? That's a fancy name." He watched her for a moment, hesitation melting into relief when she didn't say anything more.

"Yeah, well… Anyway, I guess I'm glad for the surprise rain, I got to meet a new schoolmate already, Takamaki-san."

"Yeah, funny how that works out."

"Must be fate," he suggested while giving an exaggerated eye-roll and snickering.

"Maybe," she responded smiling back. She turned as a car, a gray, maybe silver sedan pulled up to the curb. The window rolled down and he could see some man wearing what looked to be gym clothes with a friendly smile on his face. But there was something there… he grasped for what the feeling was, but all he got was a weak warning that something wasn't right. Still, the man wasn't even looking at him, instead staring at Takamaki-san next to him.

"Hey, why don't I give you a lift? You're gonna be late!" He expected her to decline, as most people would. Instead, she calmly approached the car and climbed into the passenger side. Did they know each other? It was the most likely explanation since the girl didn't seem the type to just climb into a stranger's car. Then again, he didn't exactly know her for very long. He watched her with confusion, and he noticed her expression. Downcast. Tired. "Hey, what about you? Need a lift?" He blinked and turned back to the man, before shaking his head.

He kept his eyes locked on the man, still unsure of what was giving him the uneasy feeling in his stomach, as the man simply shrugged and began rolling up the window. "Well, don't be late!" He ignored the man, watching Takamaki-san as the window finished rolling up. For a moment, he wanted to change his answer, get into the backseat, just do something, because that look on her face… it was just like the one the woman all those nights ago had worn…

_Stay out of trouble. _

He clenched his hands, watching as the car drove away, hating himself. He was a coward. The sound of shoes slapping against pavement drew his gaze, and he watched as some kid with dyed blond hair skid to a stood glaring after the car. "Gah! Screw that pervy teacher!"

He blinked, feeling his heart sink for a second. "Pervy teacher?"

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Ann•

It had begun to rain. Just perfect. Well, it at least seemed to match her state of mind, wanting nothing to do with her school. Any excuse to not go would be amazing, but… she couldn't leave her friend on her own. She sighed and continued walking, ignoring the whispers of the girls she passed, hiding underneath their umbrellas, watching her go.

"Look, it's Takamaki-san…"

"She's all alone? Probably thinks she's better than the rest of us!"

She scoffed and continued walking, using her hood to hide from both the rain and the gazes. Some older student whistled at her, and she shot him a death glare, quickly making him turn away as his friends laughed at him. Damn them all… they could think whatever they wanted, but wasn't the point of talking behind someone's back that they couldn't hear you? If she was walking with someone, they thought she was fucking them, if she was alone, they thought that she assumed she was better than them… she just couldn't win.

The rain began coming down harder and she grimaced as her clothes began soaking through. She needed to find cover and wait out the rain. Hopefully, it would stop soon enough. She spotted an awning covering a boy wearing their school uniform who was looking out at the rain, bored, and quickly stepped under the awning next to him. Damnit, of course it would rain the one day she'd forgotten her umbrella! She shook her hands out to get rid of the rainwater, before pulling her hoodie back to let her hair out. She breathed out as she purposely ignored the boy next to her and looked up at the clouds, eyeing them. It looked like it might clear up soon enough, and that it had just been a brief shower. Already there were a few slivers of sunlight, so hopefully the rain would stop soon enough that she wouldn't be late.

She settled back and noticed the boy was staring at her. Damnit, she didn't want to deal with _another _boy who thought they could try their luck with her simply because of a few rumors… She turned to him to ask why exactly he was still staring and paused. _Silver eyes?_ They must have been contacts of some sort because she'd never seen eyes of that shade before. Raven black hair sat messily atop his head, a few strands hanging down in front of thin-rimmed glasses, and those eyes were _still_ staring at her. He must have been one of those boys, who thought simply because of a few rumors she'd give him a good time if he just _swaggered over like_—_!_

Breath, Ann. He hadn't even said anything. And looking closer, she realized that she didn't recognize him. He was probably new, maybe a transfer student. She'd never seen a boy with his eyes before, they seemed so sharp and piercing, but why was he staring at her if he didn't know about any of the rumors? She smiled at him, and he seemingly snapped out of his trance, offering a smile back. She turned away, and after a moment she saw him turn away out of the corner of her eye.

They stood in silence for a moment, which quickly began turning awkward. She cleared her throat and turned back to him, tilting her head. "So… are you new to Shujin?"

"Ah, yes, yeah, I am, yes." He cleared his throat and nodded, and she blinked as she heard some English in between the Japanese. "I'm transferring, second year. What about you?"

"I'm a second year as well." She noted that he seemed to be calming down some as they talked, his stance becoming more relaxed, yet he still stood straight. She noted in the back of her mind that he was a few inches taller than her, and his body, while at first glance seemed skinny, had a bit of muscle pushing against his sleeves and blazer. "Where are you from?"

"I'm from Onett, it's a small town in Eagleland."

She blinked, "Wow, you speak great Japanese for someone from Eagleland."

"Yeah, I have an uncle who lives further east, he's fluent in English and Japanese, so he helped me learn both. And another uncle who lives in Winters… actually, a lot of my family is good with languages."

She nodded. "Your family sounds nice." His gaze hardened for a brief moment, staring at nothing, and she blinked, before deciding to switch the subject. "Well, how are you liking Japan?"

"It's… certainly an experience. Tokyo is much more crowded than my hometown. Honestly, I almost had a panic attack going through that one big intersection, ah, Shibuya Crossing?" He shuddered, causing her to laugh and hold a hand over her mouth as she giggled. Wow. She hadn't giggled with someone besides Shiho for… a while. He brightened up, smiling at her as she did so.

"Yeah, I guess that can be pretty confusing if you came from a small town."

The boy hesitated for a moment, and she thought she could see a hint of a blush, before he stamped it down and smirked down at her. "By the way, I must have forgotten my manners. I haven't even asked your name!"

She laughed at the snobbish tone he jokingly began talking in and held a hand out. "I'm Ann Takamaki. It's nice to meet you."

His smirk didn't fade and he gave a theatrical bow, "it's very nice to meet you, Milady."

"Quit it," she laughed, shaking her head.

"Anyway, I'm Akira. Akira Starr."

"Starr? That's a fancy name."

"Yeah, well," Starr-san's gaze became guarded for a second before he shook his head. "Anyway, I guess I'm glad for the surprise rain, I got to meet a new schoolmate already, Takamaki-san."

"Yeah, funny how that works out."

"Must be fate," Starr-san suggested with an eye roll and a snicker.

"Maybe," she laughed. Before she could continue, a familiar car rolled up to the curb, and her stomach dropped. No. It didn't just drop, it fucking dove straight into hell. The window rolled down, revealing the smiling face of Shujin's volleyball coach. The smile was for show, for the boy standing next to her.

"Hey, why don't I give you a lift? You're gonna be late!" She should have refused. Said no. Instead, she walked around the car and opened the passenger door, climbing in. She could see through the driver's side that Starr-san was looking at her in confusion, probably wondering why exactly she was getting into a car with who he saw as a stranger. "Hey, what about you? Need a lift?" It was just a nicety. They both knew a sane person wouldn't accept a ride from a stranger, and sure enough, Starr-san warily shook his head, his eyes watching Kamoshida.

The… the_ teacher _nodded and began rolling up the window. "Well, don't be late!" However, Starr-san wasn't looking at him. The boy was looking at her now, clear worry and thought on his face. Sure, anyone would be concerned about someone else getting into a random car, but Shiho… she'd been the only person really to show concern about anything in her life recently. She wanted to swing open the door and run back to his side, tell him to get in, something!

But no, she couldn't work up the courage to defy Kamoshida. The window finally closed fully, and she looked down as she buckled herself in. But… even though he couldn't see her through the tinted window, she somehow knew that the boy was still watching her.

Kamoshida began driving away, and his smile quickly transformed back into that disgusting, lustful smirk he wore whenever they were alone. He took one hand off the wheel to run down her arm, towards her thigh, and she had to forcibly stop herself from shivering in pure disgust. This was all for Shido's sake… as long as she told herself that, then…

She internally sobbed, wishing for that boy to help her.

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Ryuji•

"Pervy teacher?" Ryuji turned back around to see the boy with the black hair and glasses looking at him in confusion.

"What, you gonna rat me out to Kamoshida?" He growled and looked him in the eye, adopting his normal slouch. The boy raised an eyebrow and held up his hands.

"First off, I'd have to know who the hell Kamoshida even is to rat you out."

"Wha… in the car just now, that was Kamoshida." The boy just nodded slowly, understanding who he was talking about now, but apparently, it didn't mean much to him. "Y'know, Suguru Kamoshida? Volleyball coach? Thinks he's the King of the Castle, people call him the Pride of Shujin?" He asked the last question with a sarcastic tone of voice, disgust clearly mixed in.

Neither of them heard the phone within Akira's bag give off a chime as the red and black app received several keywords.

"Sorry, I'm new here." The boy shrugged, grabbing his bag to adjust the strap. "Just transferred in, I don't know any of the teachers, or things similar to that. Although I'd love to see this castle."

"Uh, it's just a phr—" he spotted his smirk and caught on to his sarcasm. "Oh, gotcha. S-sorry 'bout that." He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed, while the boy just chuckled.

"It's fine." Ryuji watched as he looked up and held a hand out. "Looks like the rain slowed down, or possibly stopped. We should get to Shujin."

"Yeah, right. Come on, I know a shortcut. It's just through this alley." He began leading the way, with the boy following him, unhesitatingly. It was a slight shock, since no one wanted anything to do with him anymore, but maybe… if he was new, they could…? He suddenly grunted and held his head as his vision went blurry and he felt dizzy, before he groaned and shook his head, dyed blond locks flailing. "Ugh, knew I shoulda stayed home today…"

"So," The boy behind him started, "anything I should know about Shujin? Any gangs I should watch out for?"

"Nah," he shook his head, hearing the sarcasm this time. "Shujin's your basic prep school, or whatever. Standard sports teams and stuff like that. You into any sports?"

"Eh, self-defense mostly, but I can play a few actual sports."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Baseball, basketball. And I do some basic training on my own, push-ups, jogging, stuff like that." Ryuji felt a small smile form when he heard jogging, before a familiar bolt of pain through his knee reminded him exactly why he shouldn't feel happy about that. He stumbled slightly and massaged his leg, before resuming his walk. He'd gotten pretty used to the pain, but he still had a slight limp. Barely noticeable, but it was there. And it seemed that his new companion had noticed it, considering he was eyeing his leg, but he kept quiet and decided to let him have his privacy.

He walked through a puddle, letting the water splash out behind him, and heard the boy give a small hum at something, but he was preoccupied with something else. He exited the alleyway he stood in, and took a step back in shock as he looked up, and up, at some kind of castle. It was large, hell, it looked as big as Shujin, but there was a tower that rose above the rest of it, high into the sky. There was even a drawbridge and some kind of moat, but the oddest part was the sign that read 'Shujin' just outside. "What the…?"

The boy next to him blinked in shock, looking up at the tower as he walked out of the alleyway. "Uh… you… sure this is the place?"

"Well… I… we took the turns I usually take…"

"The sign says Shujin," the boy noted, nodding his head towards the wall. "So something's up, but it _is _Shujin."

"Should we check it out?"

"I think so," the boy nodded. Ryuji looked closer, and he could see a large amount of curiosity swimming in his eyes.

"Alright, let's get going." They walked up the drawbridge and approached several sets of massive doors. He grabbed one, grunting as he pulled on it and it barely budged. Although, it did budge, so it wasn't locked, just heavy. "Hey, help me out here."

His companion nodded, digging his fingers into the crack he'd created between the doors, and began pushing while he pulled. Eventually, the doors were open enough for the both of them to slip inside, and they were greeted with two large staircases that led up to a balcony overlooking the main hall, with several doors leading to different places. For a moment he thought that the place wavered, and the entrance to the school replaced it, before he shook his head and the castle was back. "The hell is this…?"

"No idea. I mean, I assumed that they did… _something _to the outside of the school, but to so quickly redecorate the interior? This can't be right."

He nodded, agreeing with the silver-eyes boy's words, looking around in amazement. "Hell, I've never even heard of a castle near here, so it's gotta be the school!"

The clanking of metal drew his eyes, and he turned to see somebody wearing a suit of armor with a shield the size of his body and a sword several feet long walk up to them. He jumped in surprise, before placing a hand on his heart. "Jeez, you scared the hell outta me." He closed in and tilted his head, observing the armor. "Hey, you a student? Maybe part of the drama club? That's one hell of a costume, I've gotta say." There was more clanking, and someone else walked up, dressed in the same armor. He wasn't sure why, but he was starting to sense some kind of danger from their situation. "Hey…"

The raven-haired boy suddenly grabbed his shoulder and eyed the armored people. "I think," he started, "we should get out of here…"

He just nodded, and before the knights could react, they turned and sprinted. They didn't get far. He felt something heavy slam into his back, and suddenly he was on his knees. He fell forward and saw the boy turn around, looking at him with wide eyes. "G-Get out of here!" He cried, waving the boy away.

Instead, his eyes narrowed, and he made to charge, before another knight came up and slammed the flat end of their sword into the boy's head, knocking him out. He watched him go down before something smashed into the back of his head, and he was knocked out.

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Akira•

Akira groaned, holding his head as he drifted back into consciousness. "…ey. Hey, you alright?" He opened his eyes to see the boy with the dyed hair and a limp kneeling next to whatever he was lying on.

"Just peachy," he groaned. He sat up and nursed his head, feeling the throbbing slow down, before looking around to see that they were trapped in some kind of stone cell. "What about you?"

"I'm fine," the faux-blond answered, watching as he looked around. He got up and saw that the bed he'd been on was a wooden slab attached to the wall with chains, and the cell itself was three decaying, wet, brick walls and one wall comprised of iron bars. Honestly, that Velvet Room place he'd visited that last night with the Loli Wardens and the Long-Nosed Creep was at least nicer to look at. This place was just depressing. "Dude, where the hell are we?!"

"It's not like I have any better of an idea than you do." He shook his head and approached the bars, trying to see down the mossy stone corridor.

"Damnit! There has to be a way out of here!" The blond began kicking at the walls, trying to find a weakness, while he knelt next to the door, feeling at the keyhole. If he had something to use as a lockpick he could try and bullshit his way through it, maybe jiggle the thing around and hope it opens. That's what happens in movies, right? "Agh, damnit!"

"I'd suggest not trying to break down a stone wall with your fists," he sighed, finished playing with the lock and finding no weakness.

"But we have to get out of here! Come on, aren't you freakin' out?!"

"Of course I am," he shot back, crossing his arms. "Panic, however, doesn't help us. We need to stay calm and rational. If we can't break out on our own, then we wait for an opportunity. Someone has to come down here eventually."

The boy clenched and unclenched his fists, before sighing. "You're right… sorry, man."

"It's not your fault," he shook his head. "As I said, I'm also freaking out. I'm just focusing on planning for now. I'll probably freak out when we're far away from this place."

"Ha," the blond chuckled, sticking his hands in his pockets and kicking the ground. "I wish I could be as calm as you. I'm always— wait, do you hear that?" He raised an eyebrow as the boy tilted his head, and he focused himself, trying to hear whatever the boy had heard.

Clank, clank, clank, clank…

Someone was approaching! Already?! Damn, he hadn't made any plans! A guard walked in front of their cell and looked at them with the blank mask that made up their helmet's face. It was honestly creepy, he couldn't see anything through the mask's eyeholes, like it was simply an empty shell…

"Hey man, the hell's going on here?!" his apparently quick to anger companion roared, gripping the bars and glaring at the knight.

"You have been caught trespassing upon the king's castle, and your sentence has been decided upon. You have been sentenced to be executed."

"W-What?!"

"Pretty harsh, don't you think?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow, keeping up a facade of calm. On the inside, he was panicking. Was there anything he could do? Self-defense couldn't do much against literal knights, considering their armor could hurt his fists. Maybe trip them? Their armor and weapons looked heavy enough to overbalance them…

He refocused as a new voice rang out. A familiar one, for some odd reason, with a weird undertone. "**No one is allowed to do what they please in **_**my **_**castle."** The man that walked up from behind the knight looked familiar, and it quickly clicked in his head. Kamoshida! His facial structure was the same, with the only difference was that his eyes were glowing a bright gold color, and instead of gym clothes, he wore some hideous red and pink robe with hearts on it, with a plain golden crown sitting atop his head. As he moved the robe shifted, and Akira grimaced when he saw that the man was wearing nothing beneath it besides some underwear. Well, at least he was _wearing _the underwear.

"Wha— Kamoshida?!"

"**That's **_**King**_ **Kamoshida to you, peasant,"** the man chuckled. His voice as well. There was a warbling undertone to it as he'd noted before, and it was why he hadn't recognized it right away. The man continued to smirk at them and shook his head. "**I thought it had been some petty thief, but to think it had been you, Sakamoto… you should really know better by now!"**

The blond— Sakamoto-san grit his teeth and shook the bars, glaring at the man. "What the hell is going on here Kamoshida?! Why is the school a castle?! What's with the knights?!"

Kamoshida ignored him, turning to him. "**And you brought a friend! Did you not warn him about what happened last time you tried to defy me? Or is he just coming along for the ride?"**

"Well, I do like to let the winds of fate blow me where they may," he sneered back, disgust rising in his core. There was something wrong with Kamoshida, and not just his gold eyes and ugly robe. It was like waves of disgust were exuding off of the man, and Akira very much wanted a shower when they got out of this situation.

"**Heh, you've got some nerve."** Kamoshida sneered back, shaking his head. "**But I suppose Sakamoto needed some help for this… because he can't do **_**anything**_ **by himself."**

"This ain't funny, you asshole!"

Kamoshida snapped his golden gaze back at Sakamoto-san, glaring. "**Is that how you speak to a king?! It seems you don't understand the position you're in at all. You not only snuck into my castle, but you insulted me! The king! And of course, the punishment for that is death."**

"Weren't you going to execute us anyway for sneaking in? Not like you can kill us twice," he noted.

"**Don't think I forgot about you,"** Kamoshida scoffed. "**You'll be next to die."** The man stepped back and nodded towards the cell door, ordering a knight to step forward and unlock the door with a set of keys. The guards quickly filed into the room and blocked the exit, while he and Sakamoto-san backed up. Sakamoto-san hissed through his teeth as he eyed the guards, before yelling and running forward, shoulder-bashing one to the ground.

"I ain't down for this," Sakamoto yelled, turning to him. "C'mon, let's get out of here!"

Before he could do anything, his eyes widened as another knight prepared to attack the blond. "Sakamoto-san, behind you!" The boy turned but was too late, the guard's sword handle smashed into his gut, knocking him to the floor and causing him to cough out his breath, spittle flying from his mouth. He was about to run forward, before Sakamoto-san shook his head.

"Just get out of here! These guys are serious!"

His eyes widened, and he turned to the door. Kamoshida had stepped into the cell, and with the guards surrounding Sakamoto, he had a clean route out of there.

"**Oh, running away, are we? What a heartless friend you are!" **Kamoshida laughed, walking closer to Sakamoto.

"He ain't a friend," Sakamoto-san spat, slowly trying to get up. He turned back to him and growled when he saw he hadn't moved. "C'mon, what the hell are you doing?! HURRY UP AND GO!"

Akira struggled for another moment, before the panic that he'd been suppressing ever since waking up in that cell exploded out and he began dashing out, scrambling around the cell door and running up the stone path. Sakamoto-san was right. If he'd stayed, they would have both died. It was better than… that one of them got away.

Right?

Screams echoed from the cell, and he winced, continuing to run. No, it was best. He… he wasn't selfish enough to think that if he'd had the chance he wouldn't sacrifice himself for Sakamoto-san, obviously, the boy had a kind heart even with how brash he seemed to be, and if anything he wished that Sakamoto-san was the one escaping right now. But that's not how it turned out. He was the one escaping, while…

**What's the matter? Are you simply going to run?**

Another scream.

**Death awaits him if you do nothing. **

Damnit, damnit… the last time he'd stuck his nose in business that wasn't his, he ended up with a fake criminal record and stuck in Japan! It was enough! He had to get out, and now!

**Was your previous decision… a mistake then? **

He flashed back to that night, as the mysterious voice continued. No… it was… it had been a mistake. He'd stuck his neck out onto the chopping block and then acted surprised when the ax came down. He should just keep his head down and follow what people said…

He noticed something. The screams had stopped. He slid to a halt and stared wide-eyed back at the cell. Was he…? No, it couldn't have happened that quickly, right? Sakamoto-san was… the boy had sacrificed himself, for…

**You cannot lie to me… I see within you… I know what your true decision will be. **

The voice, whether it be his conscious, or an outside force… it spurred him on. In the opposite direction. He had been lying to himself. That decision…

It had never been, nor would it ever be a mistake.

The next thing he knew, he was back in the cell, and there was a blade pointed straight at Sakamoto's throat. He screamed and struck, landing a punch on the king's face, and launched him across the cell. Kamoshida slammed into the brick wall and grunted, before looking at him with hateful eyes. Sakamoto, who had been held up by his throat against the wall, slid down to the ground coughing. He was heavily bruised, familiar fist-shaped wounds on his face, and blood running from his lip. "D-Dude…? You came… back… no… you have to… run…"

"I'm not running!" He shouted back, squaring his feet, feeling his resolve well up within him. The guards backed up to check on the king, but he waved them away and snarled at him. "You were going to sacrifice yourself for me… I won't accept that! We're getting out of here, the both of us!" Sakamoto's eyes widened, and tears came to them.

"M… Man…"

Kamoshida waved his guards forward, and he smirked as he noted the new bruise on the king's face. "**You dare attack me?! You had a chance to run, but you didn't take it. Now, face your punishment! Guards! EXECUTE HIM!" **

"I'm not running anymore!" He shouted back. An urge to rebel swelled up inside him, and he grasped that energy, feeling it bubble up. Ever since that night, everything had been beating him down, the fucking politician that sued him and made sure he'd be stuck in Japan to spite him, Sakura-san talking down at him for trying to help someone, and now Kamoshida trying to kill someone who tried to sacrifice themself for him! He hadn't even tried to help Takamaki-san because of how big of a fucking coward he was! Well, that was it! He was done being a punching bag! It was time to break free and rebel! "You're fucking done, asshole!" There was a sudden chuckle within his head.

**Hmhmhm… very well… I have heeded your resolve. **

Akira suddenly stood ramrod straight, pain blossoming from inside his head. What… what was this?! This was _not _the time for a migraine! He clutched at his head and let out an ear-piercing shriek as the most horrible agony he'd ever felt in his life burst forth, like a raging fire from the pits of hell itself. He fell to his knees and felt tears come to his eyes as he squeezed them shut.

**Vow to me… I am Thou, Thou art I…**

Even Kamoshida and his guards had taken a step back, surprised at his screams, before the king smirked. "**Well, whatever he's going through seems to be a bit traumatizing. Let's let him suffer before we put him out of his misery!"**

**Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice… Call upon my name, and RELEASE THY RAGE!**

He let out his loudest shriek yet, feeling his throat tear from the constant screaming. But he had to fight! He stumbled as he attempted to get up, slamming into the cell wall and grasping at the stone, scrabbling for purchase. The stone cracked and shattered under his grip, falling out in chunks, not due to any wear or old age on its end, but the sheer strength that was coursing through his veins, even if he didn't notice it.

**Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, though thou be chained to HELL ITSELF!**

He reared back and slammed his face into the wall, sending his glasses falling to the floor in shards. In one of those shards, before they vanished into wisps of blue flames, he could barely see a reflection of himself, and he noticed something, something that cut through even the unbearable pain. His silver eyes were brimming with untapped power.

All at once, the pain stopped. It was as if someone had flicked a light switch, the pain simply vanished. The room fell silent, except for his labored breathing as drool crawled down his chin. He made no movements at all, except for a slight tilt of his head upwards.

And with that, a burst of wind suddenly shot out of him, sending the guards and Kamoshida flying back, while leaving Sakamoto-san untouched. He breathed out heavily, releasing his grip on the wall and sending small chunks of ground-up rock fluttering away, as they had been crushed to dust. He felt something on his face… a mask? He reached up and grabbed it, confused. He could clearly see through it, and it felt like a domino mask, but he couldn't see the colors of it. Where had…?

**Rip it off… unmask your true strength…**

He steeled his gaze and gripped it. It felt like it had been glued… no, not even glued, engraved into his very flesh! It began slowly coming off, and while it did hurt, it was nothing like what had happened before. He grit his teeth as blood began spurting from where the mask tore at his skin, before letting out one final yell as he fully removed it, showering his face with warm blood.

He let his head hang down as he breathed for a moment, eyeing the mask in his hand. It was as he'd suspected, a birdlike domino mask, although one with a black and white design to it. But that didn't matter much as it quickly vanished, consumed by blue flames. He let a malicious, full-toothed grin settle onto his face, lifting his head so he could glare Kamoshida into submission. Where the mask and skin had been ripped away and blood leaked, blue flames burst forth, and though he couldn't see it, he somehow knew that his eyes were no longer silver. No, now they were bright gold.

"**Ahahahahaha!"**

The flames quickly consumed his entire face, and then his entire body as chains began erupting from the ground around him and eerie laughter echoed from nowhere. But to him… that laughter was comforting. The flames began subsiding, and his grin widened even further as his Shujin Academy uniform transformed, becoming some kind of dark black outfit, as several more chains erupted from around him.

He felt a presence appear behind him from the flames that had consumed his face and he quickly gripped two of the chains flying in front of him, throwing them apart and commanding the creature behind him to do the same. It did so, and from where he stood he could only see red arms and long, black fingers and nails, but he somehow knew what it did. Wings unfurled from its back, blasting out another shockwave of wind, this one even more powerful than the first. The guards were completely blasted through the stone wall, while Kamoshida was slammed into it, and he scrambled to run out.

Sakamoto-san was still lying on the ground, the winds once again having not affected him. The boy was looking up at him and his creature in shock, holding up a hand almost defensively. "W-Whoa… what the…?"

He smirked back down at him, stepping forward to look back at his creature. It was taller than him, by several feet. It seemed to wear a tall, black top hat on top of a black mask with horns poking out several feet from its head, with blood-red fire coming from where eyeholes would be. The collar of a cropped, open, eighteenth-century esque suit came up to the mask, giving the impression that the creature had no head, with two black wings coming from the small of its back. At the end of its hands were long, pointed fingers colored deep black, the same with its feet, making it almost look like it stood on high heels, with the heels having a similar look to daggers.

"**I am the Pillager of Twilight— 'Arsène'!"**

The demonic creature— Arsène, now spoke out loud, no longer just a voice in his head. Although where its mouth was, he had no idea. Sakamoto-san was still staring in shock, while he looked down at his new, bright red gloves. This new outfit was pretty nice~! He turned back to the creature as it spoke again, addressing him.

"**I am the rebel's soul that resides within you. If you so desire, I shall consider granting you the power to break through this crisis."**

He smirked up at the demon-like creature and nodded. "Give it to me. Give me your power, Arsène!" It chuckled back to him in response, as they both turned to see Kamoshida looking nervously at Arsène.

"**Who the hell are you…!?" **He took a step back, pointing at them as he retreated and began running away like a coward. He ignored the fact that he'd nearly done that himself just a minute beforehand. "**Start by killing that one! You'll learn the true strength of my men!"**

As he vanished, the knights began shaking, before disappearing into black ooze. The ooze swirled on the floor, before popping back up as two jack-o-lantern like creatures. They giggled at them as he motioned for Sakamoto to get behind him, and he smirked up at Arsène. "Shall we begin?" The demon did not have a mouth, but he somehow knew it was smirking back.

"**We shall."**

He let out a low chuckle, a dangerous glint entering his eyes as he adjusted his gloves. "Very well…" the monsters surged forward, and he grabbed a dagger that he instinctively knew was now on his hip. He charged at them, commanding Arsène to do the same. "Arsène! _RAVAGE THEM!"_

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

**•**Morgana**•**

There was a clang and voices to the right. More Shadows? Possibly. From what he'd heard earlier while waiting around, there were a few intruders. How they'd managed to get into the Palace he didn't know, but maybe if they'd managed to escape…

"Shit! How the hell are we supposed to get this thing to work?!" Oh ho! That voice _definitely_ wasn't a Shadow!

"While Kamoshida does seem like a vain dick, I'm sure that there has to be some reason he put a statue of himself randomly next to an immovable bridge." Another voice! Also not a shadow! And he definitely sounded intelligent… there was a rumbling noise before the first voice whooped loudly.

"Holy shit, you were right! Let's get out of here!" Wait, they were leaving?! No! Not good!

"HEY!" The footsteps paused for a moment.

"Did you hear that?!"

"It could be more knights…" no no no! They couldn't leave him there! It hurt his pride, but…

"Hey, I could use some help here, please!"

"Come on, we should go…"

"I don't think that these… things can ask for help, or say please." No! They don't! Now come and get him out of that cell! The footsteps got nearer, and around the corner came two humans. One of them had blond hair and was staring at him dumbly, while the other had frizzy black hair and glasses and was staring at him with curiosity and wariness. That one seemed to be the smarter of the two.

"What the hell is that thing?!"

"Thing?!" He shouted back, glaring at the blond. "I am not a thing! _I_ am _Morgana_!"

"Ah yes, the elusive Morgana. Scholars have been searching for the creatures for years." The smarter one rolled his eyes as sarcasm dripped from his words, though he still looked cautious. "You look like those things that come out of the knights, but you're locked up and asking us for help, so you're probably not one of those things… but what exactly are you?"

He frowned up at the black-haired boy, pulling at the bars. "I'm a human! An honest to god human!"

"You, uh, don't exactly look human." The blond scratched his head in confusion.

"That's because my form was stolen from— look, that isn't important! You need to get me out of here!"

"And why the hell should we?! You haven't given us any effin' proof that you aren't an enemy!"

Morgana felt his eye twitch at the human's idiocy. "Didn't your friend just explain why I couldn't be an enemy?!"

"He—"

The other boy cut in, shooting his friend a look. "Right now, we can at least say he isn't an enemy. But why should we help you? You might just slow us down."

At least this one was rational! "I can lead you to the exit!"

"Hm…" the boy glared down at him with an unreadable expression, and he felt himself begin to sweat as he worried that he'd be left behind. The sound of clanking armor caused the boy to turn away, before glaring back. "Fine. But betray us and I'll kill you."

Eep! "T-That won't be necessary!"

"I hope not. Sakamoto-san, get it open." Sakamoto grabbed a keychain from his belt and fit a key in, opening the cell. He bound out and stretched, letting out a short purr.

"So, are you some kinda monster cat then? 'Cause you just purred. Plus ya got the ears and tail and paws and stuff."

"No! I'm a human!"

"How about we argue about whether he's a cat or not when we're out of here," the smart one interrupted, glaring at both of them. He and Sakamoto wilted, embarrassed.

"R-right… anyway, let's get going!" He sped down the stone path, and across the bridge that they'd lowered. "Alright, already figured out how to lower the bridge! Come on!"

"Shit, this is effin' nuts," the loud one muttered, trailing behind them.

"Keep up Sakamoto-san. We'll be out of here soon enough. Hopefully, then we can figure out just what the fuck is happening…" so, the frizzy-haired one wasn't actually calm? He was a very good liar then, he couldn't even tell that the boy was panicking, or perhaps he had been able to put it aside for a moment while interrogating him.

As they continued running, a door suddenly opened and a Shadow walked out directly into their path, and it was too late for them to stop and hide. It turned to them and Sakamoto-san fell back in a panicked frenzy, kicking at the ground to get back. "Ah shit, it's them!"

As he prepared to summon his Persona, he noticed a blue glare of light coming from next to him. He turned with wide-eyes as he watched the frizzy-haired boy step forward confidently, his clothes exploding into blue flame and becoming remarkably different. Instead of some kind of school uniform, he wore a black, ankle-length tailcoat over a dark gray waistcoat with gold accents and buttons. His pants were black, and he wore brown-black long-toed shoes with bright red gloves over his hands, and to top it off, a black and white domino mask. Thinking about it, he looked like a true Phantom Thief. Maybe…

"Hey, you can fight, right?"

The boy smirked, swiftly grabbing a dagger from his waist and twirling it. "Oh, I can fight. How about you?"

"Hmph!" He grinned back and jumped forward as the Shadow in front of them turned from ooze into a jack-o-lantern and an imp. "I say that you should watch and learn! I've been doing this for a lot longer than you have!" He placed his paws on his hips and reached within himself to summon his Persona. "Come forth, Zorro!"

He made sure to make it extra dramatic to create a lasting impression on the two of them, sending up a pillar of blue flames as Zorro formed behind him. He knew that his Persona was intimidating, with its muscular chest and arms, pointed rapier, and amazing clothes, so he proudly crossed his arms as Sakamoto crawled back, looking at it with wide eyes. "Y-You got one of those things too?!"

"Now, let's promptly shut them up!" Zorro slashed his blade out, creating a 'Z' in midair, before jabbing forward and sending a Garu out, sending the Jack-'O-Lantern flying back as he struck its elemental weakness with his wind attack. He turned to see if his companion was having any trouble, and was surprised to see him easily taking down the imp without summoning his Persona. The boy rolled underneath a strike, flipping to his feet and slashing the Shadow along its side, creating a gash that gushed black blood.

"Gah!" It hissed and attempted to attack him again, but frizzy-hair simply backflipped away, before reaching up and removing his mask, causing it to disappear in blue embers, while blue flames appeared where he'd ripped the mask from and formed a temporary mask as he summoned a black and red Persona. He felt his eyes widen in shock at the sight of it before the boy laughed and commanded it to attack with a snap of his fingers.

"Arsène! Eiha!" The Persona formed a ball of curse typed energy, flinging it at the Shadow. Even though the Shadow resisted the magic type, the attack was still powerful enough to defeat it in one blow. Impressive!

With the battle over, frizzy-hair's Persona, Arsène, vanished, along with his special clothes. "Impressive," he spoke up, rubbing his chin. "Your Persona's pretty powerful!"

"Per…sona?" Sakamoto looked at him with wide eyes. "Y'mean those things that come out of you guys all dramatic like?"

He sighed when he realized that neither of them knew what Personas were, and launched into a quick explanation. "Yes. You saw how he ripped off his mask when he summoned his, right? Well, everyone wears a mask like that, deep in their hearts. By removing it—"

"Wait, why does his clothing change back and forth like that?"

"If you would let me finish—"

"Let's do this later," Frizzy-hair sighed, massaging his temples. "I don't want to get caught in another ambush."

He sighed and nodded. "You're right. Come on, the exit's this way."

"Finally. Now let's get out of here..."

* * *

**Jesus, Joker's Awakening is so badass. Definitely my favorite of the series, although Ryuji's is a close one with his voice-acting before the actual Awakening. Plus, Ryuji's Captain Kidd is just badass on his own. If you just play Earthbound and haven't played Persona, definitely look up Joker's Awakening. The music is awesome on its own. Also, this is gonna be one long story, I mean, Persona 5 on its own is, at the fastest I've beaten it, around 80 hours. My first time through? Easily over 100. **

**So, I wanted to try and show Joker's personality more, like how he's much more uncertain and quiet in the real world, but in the Metaverse as Joker, he becomes much more confident, a showoff, and a jokester due to the rebellious power of Personas in P5. Also, writing Kamoshida is great, I can finally write a scumbag asshole character! Atlus really makes you hate the guy, and that makes him one of the best antagonists. **

**Joker and Arsène talking is fun, even though each Persona talks during the Awakening and Fusions, Arsène actually talks later in the game, so that gave me the thought, 'what if Joker could speak with his equipped Personas?' It'll show up more, but Joker discussing things with Arsène is just one fun idea I had. **

**In any case, these will be sparingly released so I can work with what Royal gives me come March. Can't wait to use that Grappling Hook that they probably only added because Joker had it in Smash, lol. Anyway, leave a review on everything that you liked in the chapter, or maybe just a 'Nice,' both are always great to read. See y'all next time.**


	3. Chapter 3: The Plunderer of the Seas

Chapter 3: The Plunderer of the Seas

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Akira•

"And why exactly are you so late?"

Jeez, she was pissed. Kawakami-sensei was looking at him with one eyebrow raised and her arms crossed over her chest. But, he'd been expecting this. And if he was good at anything, it was bullshitting and lying.

"S-Sorry, Kawakami-sensei," he sighed, making sure to stutter slightly and look away, feigning a look of embarrassment. "I thought I knew the route here, but… well, with the train accidents and everything, I kind of… well, it wasn't easy to find my way. by the time I'd figured out my train was going the opposite direction it should have…"

His teacher blinked, before groaning and massaging her forehead. "Well, I suppose that's why you missed _four whole periods, _but… there's nothing to be done about it. Everyone's being allowed to leave early for that exact reason." He stepped back as he watched her get up, before turning to him with a raised eyebrow. "By the way, I heard you were caught with _that _Sakamoto-kun."

"'That' Sakamoto?" Interesting, was he not liked? A troublemaker? In any case, unless it was something horrible, he wouldn't let their opinions taint his. Sakamoto-san had saved his life and tried to sacrifice himself for him. As far as he was concerned, Sakamoto-san was a cool dude. "In any case, Sakamoto-san found me on the way to school and helped me the rest of the way there."

The best lies were truthful and with just vague enough details that people would fill them in on their own, without really thinking about it. You didn't have to tell someone everything, as they would fill in the rest on their own. He'd loved detective novels and movies when he was younger, and especially books about chivalrous thieves, the likes of Arsène Lupin, which is most likely why he'd learned to lie so well, he liked pretending he was a thief from those books… of course, now that he thought about it, it was most likely why his True Self was the demonic thief that had assisted him.

Kawakami-sensei just sighed and began walking out of the room while motioning for him to follow. "Alright then. Come on, our class is 2D. The day is almost over, but we might as well get introductions out of the way so we don't waste time with them tomorrow."

He followed her out of the faculty room and through the hallways, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking around with some interest. Not exactly at the school itself, but imagining that castle in its place. Thinking of it as a dream would be easy… but too many things had happened there made no sense, and his inquisitive mind was already trying to fit together puzzle pieces that did not want to go together.

Hearing the words 'transfer student' snapped him back to reality. He turned his head slightly and saw two girls whispering to each other, but they weren't quiet enough. People already knew he was a transfer? How had that gotten out? He shrugged and continued walking as Kawakami-sensei turned to look at him. "By the way, when you introduce yourself, be serious about it, okay? Do not say anything unnecessary."

"Of course, Sensei," he nodded.

"Good," she nodded. They entered the classroom, and the talking stopped. However, when everyone's eyes landed on him, it started up again, though only in whispers.

"Being super late on his first day? He really is insane…"

"He looks normal though…"

"But he might slug us if we look him in the eye…"

Jesus, what the hell were these rumors? Were transfer-student horror stories common in Japan or some shit? Or… did they already know about his criminal record? It should have been impossible, only the teachers should have known, but then again, a massive castle with demons, a talking cat, and some devil shit that exploded out of him. Arsène…

He snapped back to reality when Kawakami-sensei began speaking. "This is Akira Starr. He was late due to the accidents messing with his train schedule and not knowing how Tokyo's trains work." She turned to him, and he stepped forward.

"Hey," he said, waving. Nobody really reacted positively, so after an awkward pause, he continued. "Uh, sorry about not being here for most of the day. Like Kawakami-sensei explained, the trains here are confusing enough for a country boy like me, and add in those accidents, and, w-well…" he shrugged, slipping on a fake, embarrassed grin and a stutter on the last word. He thought he heard someone chuckle, so he at least got something out of it, but everyone else still looked way too nervous. He internally cringed, nerves beginning to take hold of him.

When he didn't continue, Kawakami-sensei motioned towards an open desk by the window. "Go sit in the open seat. Could someone near him please share your textbook? Just for today."

He followed her directions and walked down the aisle, watching as most students didn't meet his eyes. However, when he saw who was sitting in front of him, he gulped. It was Takamaki-san… the girl who he'd talked to just a few minutes walk from the school. She was looking at him with confusion clear on her face, obviously wondering about the lie he'd convinced Kawakami-sensei of.

Thankfully, however, she didn't say anything, just tilted her head slightly. He felt a smile crawl onto his face and whispered a silent 'thank you' to her, to which she hesitatingly accepted. He slipped into his seat and tried to ignore the new round of rumors that sprang up. Either his thanks hadn't been as silent as he'd thought they were, or people had noticed him linger in front of her desk for a moment.

"Did you see that?"

"Do you think they know each other?"

"They have to!"

"Do you think she's cheating on Kamoshida-sensei?" That last one caused him to choke on some saliva that went down the wrong way, as his gaze shot over to see who had said that. Kamoshida?! She was dating him?!

No, wait, don't jump to conclusions. He'd seen what the rumor mill at this school was like in just the few minutes that he'd been there. That could simply be yet another idiotic rumor. After all, teenagers were petty. If some girls were jealous of Takamaki-san for one reason or another, they might start up several harsh rumors just to spite her.

Yeah, that was the most likely explanation. As the girl next to him hesitantly scooted her desk over to share her textbook, Kawakami-sensei quieted the class down. "Now, who's on duty today?"

A boy with blue hair and… several bruises? Stood, looking downcast at his desk. He blinked when he recognized the boy as the only one who'd let out a chuckle earlier. Maybe he should talk with him later? The boy cleared his throat, "everyone, please rise…"

As the class continued, Akira found himself not paying as much attention as he usually would. His eyes were moving across the shared textbook, but he was seeing none of it, focusing more on the feelings rushing through his mind. He could feel something new, or perhaps it had always been there, but he'd never noticed it.

It was like a presence at the back of his mind, humming softly, yet non-audibly. It was a paradox, but it was there. And there was only one thing that it could be. _'__Arsène?' _He attempted to think to it, not sure if the Persona as Morgana had called it could respond in the real world.

**I am here, Trickster… **

He flinched at the sudden intrusive voice. It was similar to the voice in his head when he was thinking or reading something, but obviously different. Deeper, more menacing, yet familiar and comforting. Coming out of nowhere like that… He was lucky that he'd only flinched, and hadn't jumped in his seat. He didn't need rumors that he was on drugs or something spreading.

_'Just what the hell is going on…?'_

**Thou knoweth that I am thy other-self… I know nothing more than thou thyself do. However, I shall be by thy side should thou ever need my assistance.**

Ugh… no real answers then. But… It was nice to know he still had Arsène, even here in the real world. He might not be able to summon the Persona, he wasn't wearing his mask after all, but Arsène was still a comforting presence always with him.

* * *

The rest of the class passed quickly, and soon enough the school day was over. As he wandered out of his class, absentmindedly noticing how everyone made sure to stay out of a certain radius of him, he felt a sudden pain in his head and grunted, leaning against the wall. He opened his eyes and watched as the floor of the school wavered, switching between wood and carpet.

"Are you alright?" He turned to Kawakami-sensei, who's just exited the classroom and was looking at him with some concern, and nodded.

"Ah, yeah, just… a headache." Better to just fake it. Although he wasn't as good at lying when the pain was lancing through his head, at least it was fading quickly.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She stepped closer and looked at him, before shaking her head. "Well, I suppose you'd know best if you're okay or not… by the way, it seems like people are already talking about you… but I'm not the one who told them."

"Don't worry, I wasn't thinking that you did." While she didn't seem to care too much, he didn't think that she'd be the type to just blurt out stuff about him randomly.

She sighed, "I can't even catch a break… why do I have to deal with this? Anyway, you should head straight home without stopping anywhere. Sakura-san sounded pretty angry."

He winced. Looks like he'd need to convince yet another person. Well, he had his excuse, so it should be pretty simple. "Got it."

"Oh, and about Sakamoto-kun. Don't get involved with—" she cut herself off as the blond approached, muttering to herself, "speak of the devil… what do you want? I heard the police caught you cutting class today." He winced from behind Kawakami, remembering that encounter. Right after they'd escaped from Kamoshida's castle, a pair of police officers had found them while Sakamoto-san was still confused. He'd had to drag away the faux blond before he could dig their graves too deep.

"Ugh… it was nothin'…"

"And you haven't dyed your hair back to black either."

"Sorry 'bout that…" Sakamoto-san looked over to him and grinned, opening his mouth, before he cut him off with his own grin and grabbed his hand, clasping it in a bro-shake.

Sakamoto-san looked confused, so he used the handshake to lean close and whisper, "does what you want to talk about have to do with the castle?" Then, louder, "Hey, thanks for showing me the way to school."

Sakamoto-san seemingly caught on and nodded. "Meet me on the rooftop." Then, louder, "Uh, yeah, it was no problem. See ya." They most likely hadn't needed to have that secret conversation, as Kawakami-sensei had already begun walking away, but it was better safe than sorry, especially with the other students walking around near them.

The students glanced at them, and he could already hear their whispers. "Wow, he's already talking with Sakamoto-san?"

"Well, they are both delinquents, why wouldn't they hang out together?"

"That's true… come on, I don't want to get noticed by them…"

He sighed and made to follow Sakamoto-san up the stairs, but stopped and took a step back, leaning casually against the wall by his classroom and pretending to check his phone as Kamoshida and the principal walked up the stairs, talking about him. He frowned as he heard Kamoshida speak about how he was 'already friends with _that _Sakamoto,' which just made him wonder more on what exactly everyone's problem with the boy was.

Those students and Kawakami-Sensei had said that he was a delinquent, but he just didn't see it. Well, maybe the vulgar attitude, but… he shook his head. Once they were finished and they walked away, he walked out, eyes trailing them.

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

_4/12, Tuesday_

The next day he'd gotten to school just fine. No sign of the castle anywhere. In his classes, the other students usually tried to make sure that he couldn't hear them whispering about him, but they were pretty bad at it. Hell, he'd probably heard whispers from the literal other side of the room. Although, he might have convinced a few that he wasn't so bad when he was easily able to answer Ushimaru-sensei's question on Socrates without hesitation.

As the day ended, he stuffed his books back into his bag, before making his way out of the classroom. Sakura-san had chewed him out when he'd gotten back to Leblanc the day prior, but he'd managed to successfully lie to the shop owner just as he did Kawakami-sensei convincing him his lateness hadn't been his fault.

He continued to walk before pausing as he heard a not-welcome familiar voice say a welcome familiar name. "Hey there, Takamaki!" He pressed himself up against the wall and knelt, pretending to sift through his bag as he eavesdropped on Kamoshida. He'd just used her name without a 'san' honorific? If he remembered his lessons, using someone's name without an honorific was rude, unless they permitted you, or if you were a family member. Maybe? He wasn't sure about the last part, but the lesson he did remember was to always use honorifics, and family names.

Although funnily enough, what Ryuji Sakamoto-san had wanted to talk to him about the day earlier on the rooftop was partially about that. He'd explained that since they saved each other's lives, then they shouldn't have to worry about the honorifics and just call each other by their names. Plus, the boy had added, Ryuji didn't really give a shit about all that...

Wait, that wasn't important right now! He focused back on the conversation, trying not to make his eavesdropping noticed. Kamoshida was still talking, and he quickly used context to fill in what he'd missed. "…oking for a ride home? Things have been pretty dangerous lately with all these accidents."

He narrowed his eyes. '_Don't_,' he thought at Takamaki-san, Arsène stirring within his psyche. So much about Kamoshida rubbed him the wrong way, even disregarding that odd golden-eyed version of him they'd met at the castle. _'Make an excuse.'_

It seemed that Takamaki-san felt the same as him, as she looked away and nervously twirled one of her bushy pigtails. "Sorry, I have a photoshoot today. It's for the special summer issue, so I can't afford to miss it." She was a model, then? She certainly had the looks for it, and—

Did she say summer issue? He shook his head and fought down a blush at the interesting mental images that flooded his mind. _'__Down, boy.'_ Arsène chuckled at his dilemma and thoughts, and he really wanted to try and summon the Persona to smack his stupid tophat off his head in revenge.

As he wrestled his hormones into check, Kamoshida spoke up. "Hey now, being a model is fine and dandy, but don't work your pretty little self to the bone." He unconsciously rolled his eyes even as he kept pretending to dig through his bag, pulling out a folder and flipping through it. "You said you weren't feeling well, right? Something about appendicitis?"

"Yes. I keep planning to go to the hospital, but I've been too busy. Sorry to worry you…" He winced at that one. If that wasn't the most obvious lie he'd ever heard then he'd eat Arsène's hat. But, it at least proved that she wanted just as much to do with Kamoshida as he did.

"You must be lonely too. I feel bad for keeping your best friend at practice so often. That's why I asked you out in the first place." Wait, so they were dating? But she seemed like she was disgusted by him. Something was not adding up… "Oh, and… be careful around that transfer student. He's got a criminal record after all. If something were to happen to you."

Takamaki-san shifted her feet, but he was busy keeping his gaze on his bag and couldn't see exactly what she was doing. However, she did seem to gain a somewhat guarded tone. "Well… he's quiet in class, and he seems alright so far. He can't be that bad."

"I could help you transfer classes if you'd like."

"No, it's… I'm fine. I have to go." She began walking off, and he heard Kamoshida 'tch' after a moment. He got up and zipped his bag closed, and nearly bumped into the man as he made for the stairs.

"Ah, Starr-san. I hope you're not causing any trouble."

**Though I wish we were… **

"Shut up," He hissed. Kamoshida narrowed his eyes and he straightened up, sweat rolling down the back of his neck. "Of course not, sir." Now that he was speaking to the man, he could actually look at him. His gaze had a hint of suspicion in it, but nothing more. "If you'll excuse me, Sensei, I've got to get going."

Kamoshida nodded, and he wandered past him, down the stairs, and out the front entrance. _'__Don't do that, I can't have people thinking I'm crazy on top of all the other shitty rumors.'_

**I am simply expressing thy thoughts. Thou knoweth thou truly wished to show him he is no king.**

He sighed, adjusting his bag and continuing his walk. He'd learned a bit from that eavesdropping session, but there were still a few missing pieces. If he could just—

"Yo." He turned to see Ryuji leaning on the school gates, and the blond swiftly got up to approach him.

"Waiting to ambush me, I see."

"Wha— no, I was—" he smiled, and Ryuji sighed in response. "Man, you gotta stop messing with me."

"Ain't gonna happen." He shook his head and bumped his shoulder. "So, what's up?" To be honest, he was glad that he'd made a friend so soon. Ryuji, while brash, seemed cool, and he'd be glad to hang out with him more during the year. Honestly, Ryuji was probably his first real friend, even compared to kids back home, who'd just… he shook his head, warding off those thoughts. There was no chance of _that _happening here.

"I wanted to talk about yesterday some more…" Ryuji crossed his arms and sighed, "I kept trying to tell myself it was just some kinda dream, but… I couldn't convince myself."

"I get that," he nodded. "I'll admit, I'm definitely curious about it myself."

"I mean, I can't just ignore it, or forget about it… it's connected to that bastard Kamoshida after all…" Ryuji hissed the last part with extreme venom, and he quirked an eyebrow. "I wanna find out what's up with that place, no matter what."

"Well, you can count me in."

"Wha— for real? I mean, I was gonna ask, but…"

"Hey, as I said, it definitely intrigued me. And besides that, the place seemed pretty dangerous. I'm the only one of us two who can do that whole summoning thing, so I don't want you going into danger without a way to protect yourself."

Ryuji's grin seemed almost blinding. "Damn, dude… I don't… thanks, man."

"No problem."

"Anyway, I think to find that place we should try and retrace our steps from yesterday."

"But didn't you say that that was the route you always take?" He rubbed his chin, thinking on how exactly they'd reached the castle. "There has to be more to it…"

"Well, what else could it be?"

He looked around and spotted the alley that they'd walked through for the shortcut and wandered into it, looking around. "Well, this is the shortcut alley, correct?"

"Right, yeah."

"So, what exactly…" he thought back, to when they'd both entered and exited the mysterious place. "Hey, didn't the sky seem… I don't know, weird in there? I mean, it should have been sunny, the clouds were finally clearing after all, but for some reason, the sky was still dark, yet we could see perfectly fine." He looked down and scuffed the ground with his shoe. "And there was that odd liquid on the ground…"

"I dunno, I'm kinda lost here…"

He hummed, before bringing out his phone. When they'd exited… he remembered a chime coming from it, saying something about 'returned to the real world.' He unlocked his phone and checked, and sure enough, the odd eye app was on there. "I think this might be it."

"Huh?" Ryuji looked over his shoulder before nodding excitedly. "Oh yeah! I remember your phone saying some shit about the real world or whatever!" Ryuji tried to grab his phone, and he quirked an eyebrow as he leaned away and held it up.

"Whoa man, you can't just take another guy's phone without permission. I need to delete all my porn first." Ryuji began sputtering and blushing, and he let another grin form on his face as he handed it over.

"Ugh, saying that shit with a straight face…" Ryuji shook his head and tapped on the app. "Whoa! This is totally it! And hey, there's even a search history on it!"

"Don't look at the private tabs."

"Wh— no, for the castle! Jeez… Yeah, it looks like this is some kinda navigation app thingy. Here, let's try selecting the castle…" they both jerked as the world around them began warping and twisting, and the school in front of them slowly transformed into the castle. "Holy crap! It's the castle!" Ryuji ran up the drawbridge and he followed, stopping in front of the large doors. "We made it back… so what happened yesterday was for real too…"

"I guess so," he murmured, looking up at the stonework.

"Yeargh!" He flinched and turned to Ryuji, who was staring at him oddly. "Those clothes!" He looked down and blinked in shock when he noticed that he was wearing the uniform that he kept transforming into. "That happened last time too, huh? What's with that outfit?!"

He wasn't sure, but he was definitely digging it. He reached up and felt his mask, firmly secured to his face, even though there was nothing to hold it on, and tugged at his red gloves. He frowned and pulled one off, only to put it back on. So the outfits were removable? But for some reason, he'd transformed when he'd entered… either way, he wasn't complaining. The outfit was awesome, and it made him look like a dashing rogue. "What, you jelly?" He smirked at Ryuji.

"I-I ain't jealous," Ryuji huffed, crossing his arms. He just snickered at his friend, already feeling the rush of rebelliousness that filled him whenever his outfit had burst to life around him when they'd fought those monsters the previous day, before looking up at the castle again.

"So what the hell is this all about?"

"I don't know! God, this makes no effin' sense!"

"Hey, stop making a commotion, the Shadows are gonna notice!" He turned to see Morgana sneak around a corner, and knelt to try and be level with the tiny creature.

"Oh, hey, it's you."

"I heard shouting and came to see what it was all about, and here you two are, coming straight to the entrance when you'd barely managed to escape last time."

"So, what is this place? Is it the school?" Ryuji questioned.

"That's right."

"B-But it's a castle!"

"The castle _is _the school. At least, to its ruler. Kamoshida, you called him? It's how his distorted heart views the school."

"Why don't you slow down and just explain it all to us," He sighed, holding out a gloved hand. "We have no idea what any of this is, and it's not like any of those… what did you call them, Shadows? It's not like those Shadows are chasing us right now."

Morgana sighed, crossing his short arms. "I'm really not sure how to explain it any better. Kamoshida thinks of this school as his castle, so it became like that."

"But that's impossible, thoughts can't simply warp reality in such a way."

Morgana shook his round head. "But this isn't reality, or at least, not the real world. This place is another world, formed _because _of his warped desires."

He massaged his temples, fingers accidentally brushing at his mask as he did so, forgetting it was there. A world formed by desire? It was like one of those shitty anime or manga where simply because a character had enough willpower they could survive bullets to the damn head. But, the evidence was right in front of him.

A sudden scream shocked him out of his thoughts, and Ryuji stumbled back. "W-What the hell was that?!"

"It must be the slaves held captive here," Morgana sighed.

"For real?" Another scream sounded out. "Oh shit… it's for real… we saw other guys held captive here yesterday… I'm pretty sure they're from our school."

"Slaves…" He clenched his fists and felt Arsène flare up within him.

"Most likely on Kamoshida's orders. It's nothing out of the ordinary; it's like that every day here. What's more, you two escaped yesterday. He must have lost his temper quite a bit." As he wondered how the cat-human could say such things with complete nonchalance, a growl from Ryuji's throat drew his eyes. "Ryuji…?"

The blond suddenly yelled and slammed his shoulder into the doors, screaming up at the castle. "This is bullshit! You hear me Kamoshida?!"

"Ryuji, calm down," he grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back, though he desperately wanted to rampage through that castle himself.

"Doing that isn't going to open the doors, you know. Still, it seems like you have your reasons to hate him…"

Ryuji suddenly spun around, "hey, Monamona!"

"It's Morgana!"

"Do you know where those voices are coming from?"

"What, you want me to take you to them?" The cat seemed to think for a moment, looking at him not-so-subtly. "…Well, I guess I could guide you there. But only if _he_ comes with us."

"Let's go," he answered without hesitation.

"That quickly? Heh, it's settled then."

"For real?" Ryuji smiled at him. "Thanks, man."

"Alright, let's do this! Follow me!"

* * *

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Ryuji•

"Look out!" He watched as Akira jumped back, landing on his hands and flipping onto his feet, narrowly avoiding the strike from the large, two-horned horse. "These things are tough!"

Akira nodded at Morgana's words, pulling out his handgun and blasting his horse opponent with several shots to the head. It staggered back, letting out something between a whinny and a roar in agony. Akira then leaped forward and pulled out his dagger, stabbing it in the eye before rolling as it attempted to wildly Headbutt him while cutting one of its legs.

The gun he wielded was a fake, a simple model airsoft gun, but somehow, due to the weird way this world worked, since their enemies saw their guns as real they became real. He'd even brought a shotgun for himself to use for intimidation, but even though now he could use it, he was afraid of firing it and dislocating his shoulder or something. He'd never fired a gun before!

Akira dodged a horse charging right at him, jumping and rolling across the enemies' back like a trained acrobat, summoning Arsène in the process. "Cleave!"

"**Hahahaha! Take this!" **Arsène laughed and swiped at the Shadow with his knife-like heels, cutting a deep gash along its side, before bringing his leg up and slamming down, chopping the monster's head off. Akira recalled Arsène, the flames on his face reforming into a mask as he flipped his dagger and continued to fight alongside Morgana.

Speaking of the cat, he was fighting just as well but was starting to become overwhelmed. He was faster than Akira in every fight through the castle they'd been in so far, but in the endurance department, he was weaker, blows that barely grazed him doing some serious damage. His curved sword and slingshot, however, seemed to do enough damage to hold off the horses.

Zorro as well, with his rapier and wind powers, was dangerous, and his healing powers kept him and Akira in the fight. Everything began going wrong as Morgana was hit head-on though, and was sent rolling across the floor.

Ryuji saw another horse preparing to attack Akira from behind and tried to warn his friend, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Akira, behind you!"

Akira attempted to dodge, but the horse was faster and slammed into his back with enough force to expel the air from the boy's lungs, tossing him forward. He watched as Akira attempted to control his roll, slipping back onto his feet, and scrambling for his mask. Yeah! If Akira could just summon Arsène—

The beast reached Akira before he could rip his mask off, attempt to dodge, or just do anything. Akira choked as it slammed itself into him, and he watched as it threw the black-clad boy onto his back. This time the golden guard that hadn't transformed slammed its boot down on him, preventing him from getting up. He watched helplessly as Akira attempted to reach his mask again, but the guard pointing its sword at his throat gave him a clear message to stop.

He saw the sadistic king slam his own foot on Morgana, keeping him down, while he could only watch, like always… "**I bet you simply came here on a whim and ended up like this. Isn't that right?" **Shadow Kamoshida laughed, while he just cringed back.

"No…"

"**What a worthless piece of trash. Getting so emotional so quickly… how dare you raise your hand at me." **As Shadow Kamoshida sneered at him, Akira attempted to struggle out from underneath the guard's boot without having his throat impaled. "**Though it was only temporary, did you forget my kindness in supervising track practice?"**

He growled and threw his arm out, remembering the 'training' they'd been put through. "It wasn't no practice— it was physical abuse! You just didn't like our team!"

"**It was nothing but an eyesore! The only one who needs to achieve results is me! That coach that got fired was helpless too… had he not opposed me with a sound argument, I would've settled it with only breaking his star's leg."**

He could see Akira snap his gaze back to him, but he didn't react, his mouth going dry. This… this problem he'd had to deal with, his fucking limp, his slouched stance… He couldn't keep up with Akira or Morgana, wincing and sweating whenever he was forced to run to keep up with the two of them… He remembered the event that had caused it, storming up to Kamoshida… the 'self-defense' that the school had called Kamoshida's actions… "…what?" Ryuji whispered, looking with wide eyes at the king.

"**Do you need me to deal with your other leg too? The school will call it self-defense anyway!"**

He clenched his eyes shut, lowering his head as he fell to all fours, pain clear in his cracking voice. "Damnit… am I just gonna lose all over again?! Not only can I not run anymore, the track team is gone 'cause of this asshole too!"

Just when he thought they'd had a chance to finally get back at that effin' pervert… they'd found the source of the screams, a bunch of volleyball students being tortured by the guards like Morgana had said. Whipped, forced to run without water or risk being grounded up by a spinning wheel with spikes, even being shot by a cannon…

Morgana had explained that they were simple cog… cogni… dolls or something like that, and weren't real. But they represented what the bastard king was doing in the real world, beating down on all of the team members with no one to stop him, all because he was the 'Pride of Shujin!'

He'd tried to take pictures of the students, but nothing on his phone was working, and even Akira could only access the weird navigation app that had gotten them there. So instead he did his best to memorize all of the faces of the tortured, to interrogate them in the real world and prove what Kamoshida was doing. And they were almost out of there, home free before they were caught. And now…

"**Once these two are dealt with, you're next. Hahahahaha!"**

Goddamn effin' son of a bitch! This was all his fault… his little crusade or some shit for justice had led to this…

"Ryuji!" Morgana cried.

"I… I'm sorry, guys… I'm to blame for all of—"

Akira growled to himself, before snapping at the boy. "What the hell are you doing?!"

He slowly looked up at him, blinking. "Wha—"

"You're just going to sit there and feel sorry for yourself while letting this asshole win?! Stand up for yourself, damnit! Get revenge, get angry! This fucker feels like he's the king of the world, so get up and dethrone the shithead! You think just because we're beaten and bruised we'll give up?! Fuck that!" Akira suddenly reached up, grabbing the blade about to plunge into his neck, even as it began cutting into his gloves and causing blood to leak from his hands as he slowly pushed the blade back. "FIGHT, RYUJI!"

"**Why you—" **before Kamoshida could continue, he clenched his hands and squeezed his eyes shut. This bastard… Akira was right! This bastard would PAY!

"…you're right. Everything that was important to me was taken by him… I'll never get 'em back…"

Kamoshida just scoffed. "**Stay there and watch. Look on as these hopeless scum die for nothing because they sided with trash like you."**

"RYUJI!"

The blond grit his teeth, and slowly got up. The self-pitying look on his face was morphing into one of rage and determination. "No… that's what you are… all you think about is using people… you're the real scumbag, Kamoshida!" He began walking closer, gripping his fists so tightly that his nails were beginning to cut his palms. But he ignored the pain.

"**What are you doing? Silence him!" **

He felt something begin to twist, coming closer and closer to snapping.

_Akira was right. _

_It was time to rebel._

He suddenly screamed, having had enough, pointing his finger directly into Kamoshida's face. "Stop lookin' down on me, WITH THAT STUPID SMILE ON YOUR FACE!"

That thing in Ryuji that he felt. That pull, that… that feeling. It snapped.

**You made me wait quite a while…**

He gasped and clutched at his head, sweat beginning to trail down his head. The hell… the hell was that voice?! It was so foreign and so familiar at the same time. He fell to his knees, before slamming his head into the carpet, crying out in agony. In the back of his mind, he remembered Akira going through similar pain, but that was the furthest thing from his mind at the moment.

**You seek power, correct? Then let us form a pact.**

He began clawing at the carpet, drool and spittle leaking from his mouth and staining the red rug below him as he screamed, tears leaking from his eyes and mixing with the other fluid. His eyes flashed, going from his natural blue to bright gold to blue and back to gold.

**Since your name has been disgraced already, why not hoist the flag and wreak havoc…?**

He rolled onto his side and once again clutched at his head, nails digging into his flesh as blood began running down his face. He cried as he moved to roll onto his back, kicking at the ground and snarling like a rabid dog. But the words echoing through his head made so much sense… He couldn't just ignore them…

**The 'other you' that exists within desires it thus… **

The voice seemed amused at the situation, whispering in his ears, within his brain. _Get up. Fight. Your friend needs you, _he thought to himself, willing himself to try and get back onto his feet, but the pain escalating cut through that and he let off a horrific scream as he rolled onto his side.

**I am Thou, Thou art I… There is no turning back.**

He scrambled onto his front, feeling his nails cut through the rug beneath him with sudden strength, and a sense of clarity and power began cutting through the pain, growing ever stronger.

**The Skull of Rebellion is your FLAG HENCEFORTH!**

He slammed his head down one last time, but now there was a metallic clang and a flash of bright blue as a mask appeared on his face as he glared up at the soldiers and Kamoshida. The golden knight simply scoffed at him, ripping his sword up from Akira's hands to skewer the boy with. "What can you do? Hmph, cower in fear and watch!"

Unfortunately for the guard and Kamoshida, Ryuji did neither. He ripped the mask off immediately, and a pillar of blue flames burst out of him alongside a shower of blood as the mask tore at his flesh, the flames shooting to the ceiling. A shockwave of energy blasted out of it, and the guards plus Kamoshida were sent stumbling or flying back, freeing Akira and Morgana as neither were harmed. Akira coughed, spitting saliva onto the ground as the pressure on his stomach let up, and the boy grinned as he saw Ryuji's outfit, born from his rebellious spirit.

He wore matching black pants and a high-collared jacket, knee and elbow pads, a partially undone red ascot tie, combat boots, and yellow gloves. Around his waist were two bandoliers holding what looked to be shotgun shells. He could also see what seemed to be metallic, riblike armor on the sides of his jacket, with silver-colored armor on his back, mimicking his spine. Remembering the skull mask he'd worn before Awakening, he looked remarkably like a more modern take on a pirate. Akira felt a chuckle slip out. _'__So, that's what Ryuji thinks a true rebel looks like? Must've watched a lot of pirate movies then.'_

The Persona behind him simply reinforced the image. It was even taller than Arsène, but that was from the fact it was riding a large boat with a painted shark-toothed smile and red and yellow eyes. It was a pirate ship specifically, with the masts broken and netting ripped, flowing in the wind created by the Persona. The creature atop it looked like the classic conception of a pirate, from the cutlasses crossed on its chest and the chains and anchors whipping around it, to the black and light blue outfit, along with the large pirate's hat, proudly displaying the skull of rebellion. The main differences were that its right arm was normal up to its hand, which was replaced with a bright gold cannon that sparked with electricity and thunderbolts, and its left hand ended in incredibly sharp claws. Its face was skeletal, with its right eye covered with an eyepatch and the other red and yellow like the ship's eyes. The Persona seemed to smirk and pointed its cannon forward, yellow lightning flashing around the barrel.

_'Oh yeah. That kid really likes pirates.'_

Arsène simply chuckled within him in response. **Thieves and Pirates have no kings. Let us show this tyrant what we can do.**

The Pirate Persona laughed as he surfed upon his ship, eye glinting and smirk widening."**I am the Plunderer of the Seas— 'Captain Kidd!'"**

"Aw man… right on! Wassup Persona?"

"Your Persona's pretty damn cool, Ryuji." Akira smirked and walked to his side, bumping his forearm against his own, and he smirked back at the raven-haired boy. Morgana followed, hopping to his other side, and they both summoned their own Personas, Arsène and Zorro appearing beside the Captain.

"Heh, right on… it effin' rocks! And now that I've got this power, it's time for payback!" He cracked his knuckles and inclined his head at the guards. "Yo, I'm ready! Bring it!"

"Ngh… don't mock me you brat!" The golden guard growled in anger, slamming its sword into the ground as it transformed, becoming a knight riding a large black horse. The horse reared up and whinnied, while he simply grinned maniacally and pointed his Persona forward.

"Blast them away! CAPTAIN KIDD!" The Captain cackled and electricity charged up within its cannon arm, before launching bolts of lightning at their opponents.

It was time to show that bastard Kamoshida just how much of a troublemaker he could be!

* * *

**And here it is, chapter three. Man, one more month and then the Royal releases. Can't wait. Gonna wreak havoc with Orpheus, Izanagi, and Arsène once more.**

**Anyway, Ryuji has awakened to Captain Kidd! The full battle and escape from the castle shall be next chapter, and maybe even some PSI finally! I have several different PSI abilities planned for Akira to have, though probably not the ones you'd think. Yes, he'll have his unique standard main attack like Ness and Lucas, with their PSI Rockin' and Love, but the rest of his abilities aren't exactly going to be purely offensive! He is a thief after all!**

**Now, I love how the lightning baby is introduced as 'Vulgar Boy' yet he never says fuck out loud, only in texts or non-verbal segments. Captain Kidd is one of my favorite of the Thieves' Personas, maybe up there with Noir's or Crow's. And even his ultimate form is cool, since in P5 the Ultimate Personas are usually less cool than the beginning Personas, whereas in P4 the Ultimate Personas usually looked cooler. **

**I had fun with Arsène's segments, having the Thief speak within Joker's head while he's thinking. Even played with quotations, using them when the Personas speak aloud, and none when they are speaking in their users' head. Definitely different from Canon, but fun. I also liked the idea of Akira being a good liar from having an interest in thieves and detectives, especially as the leader of the Phantom Thieves. And of course, the Sun Arcana will be able to help him become even better. **

**Also, I'm sure everyone familiar with P5 noticed the added line, "The Plunderer of the Seas," by the Captain. Only Arsène and Orpheus from P3 have an introductory title, as even though Izanagi from P4 does the whole 'I am Thou' segment, he doesn't give himself a title. I really like the idea of the Personas having titles like that, so we'll be seeing more with each Awakening. of course, it may be a bit difficult for some Personas like Noir's or Fox's, so if anyone has a few ideas they'd like to suggest I'd gladly take them into consideration.**

**Oh, and happy Valentine's day for all you non-single folk out there. As for the rest of us, hope that a family member gets us chocolate's or something, lol. We're all Ryuji's this year. Anyway, leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read. See y'all next time!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Chariot

Chapter 4: The Chariot

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Akira•

Captain Kidd laughed, firing a beam of lightning out and electrifying the knight. The Shadow grunted, before commanding the other guards to attack, after which they all transformed into the Shadow horses.

He sent Arsène forward, cleaving at one of the horses and slashing it in two, while Morgana leaped to safety and pelted another horse with five shots from his slingshot while Zorro swept up another with Garu. Ryuji stepped forward and commanded Kidd to blast another horse with lightning, causing it to screech and fall back while flailing. "They're weak to lightning, Ryuji, focus on the regular horses! Morgana and I'll take care of the big one!"

"Got it! Let's get 'em, Captain!"

As Ryuji and the Captain blasted away at the horse creatures, he and Morgana attacked the horseman. The horse reared back and charged at them, with the guard on top of it spinning its lance and striking at him. He deflected the blow with his dagger, grasping his handgun with his free hand to blast the horseman's armor. The bullets pinged off of it, only a few punching through, and the Shadow whacked him aside with the handle of its lance.

He turned his fall into a roll, using the distance he'd gained to aim this time and fired the rest of his clip, sending the bullets flying through the slits in its faceplate. It clutched at its head in agony and its horse shifted under it, not sure what to do, giving Morgana time to strike and dig his curved blade into one of the joints in its armor before jumping away, letting him get in a curse blast with Eiha before ducking back and recalling Arsène, reforming his mask.

The horseman was strong, yes, stronger than any of the other Shadows individually, but it didn't have any backup. Well, it did, but Ryuji was mopping them up, and killing the last one. With just one enemy, they could focus on dodging and counter-attacking, and that was just when they weren't on the offensive. The horseman seemed to sense this, its horse retreating a few steps before the sound of a gun went off and the horseman reared back in pain. Ryuji walked up, pumping a shotgun and grinning. "Man, this thing is badass!"

"Enjoying yourself?" He questioned, keeping an eye on the Shadow.

"Hell yeah I am!" He twirled his gun and it vanished like Morgana's slingshot did when the cat wasn't using it before he drew a bat covered in chains from nowhere. "Now, let's finish this guy off!" Ryuji was being reckless, but he understood why. The rush of Awakening and feeling energy pumping through your veins, plus the knowledge that he was finally fighting back against Kamoshida was likely intoxicating. He'd be there to pull him back if he overextended, but he'd let him indulge.

The horseman snarled and tried to impale the blond boy, but Ryuji simply jumped around him, rearing back and smashing his bat into the Shadow's side. The horse stumbled from the strength of the blow, and Akira was quick to capitalize. "Everyone," he called, twirling his dagger, "All-Out Attack!"

Morgana and Ryuji quickly followed his lead, striking and dodging and striking again, not giving the Shadow any time to think or retaliate. Ryuji was the one to land the final blow, bashing the knight's head clean off its shoulders, before slamming into the ground and scrambling to his feet to try and keep his composure. The horseman, meanwhile, stood in place for a single moment, before black blood spurt from its head, and it fell over, dissolving into a puddle of formless ooze all while Ryuji gave a toothy smirk and made the Sign of the Horns with his hand. "Freakin' Boring!"

As the adrenaline began wearing off, Akira could see the fatigue suddenly slam into Ryuji. After all, when first Awakening to a Persona it put a heavy strain on the body, and somebody would feel incredibly fatigued afterward. The only reason he'd been able to get out of the palace the first time they'd been trapped was simply because of the adrenaline energizing him whenever they came across a patrol.

"Hah… haha…" Ryuji straightened up and grinned, wincing through his exhaustion. "You like that you son of a bitch!?"

"Whoa… so Ryuji also had the potential…" Morgana looked at the boy with wide eyes, while he just chuckled. He wasn't sure what the criteria was for people having the potential, just that it required a strong will of rebellion. And with how much heart the blond had, it wasn't much of a surprise to him.

The skull mask appeared back on the blond's face as Captain Kidd dissipated, and he saw the blond wince as he almost stumbled. He bit the inside of his cheek, looking at Kamoshida who still seemed confident, even with his guards dead. Either he was just incredibly stupid, or he had more guards. Maybe both.

Probably both, yeah.

Either way, Ryuji wouldn't be able to fight again with his fatigue settling in. Alongside that, he was injured, so he didn't want to risk another extended fight. However, even with his exhaustion, Ryuji took a step forward. "Even if you apologize now… I ain't forgiving you!"

"**I told you that this was my castle… it seems you still don't understand." **Akira narrowed his eyes at the King. Understand what? That he had more guards? He understood that alright, but with them nowhere in sight, nothing was stopping them from beating the crap out of the Shadow right then and there.

His answer came a moment later when a familiar-looking blond girl came running out of a side room, giggling like an airhead. It was Takamaki-San, although she looked… well… Akira was very thankful that his mask covered his blush. Instead of the Shujin uniform and her red tights, she was wearing a tacky purple and black leopard-spot two-piece bikini, and a tiara with cat ears on her head. He felt something rise and quickly clenched his legs together.

Nope.

Nope nope nope.

"Wha— Takamaki-San?!" Ryuji questioned, staring incredulously at the girl. He also had a slight blush, hidden by his mask, but he was able to hide it under layers of confusion.

"O-oh! W-What a meow-velous and beautiful girl!" Akira snapped out of his embarrassment to glare with disgust at Morgana for the pun so bad, not even his father would have made it.

"W-whats going on here?" Ryuji asked, swinging his arm.

"I think…" he looked closer, thinking. "She's probably just another cognition. I mean, she doesn't seem to like him in the real world, so she wouldn't act like this, but in here, it's what he sees her as. Like how he sees the volleyball players as simple slaves, he sees her as some kind of toy, a doll."

**Disgusting, **Arsène growled within his head, agreeing with him.

"Oh… yeah, I get it!" Ryuji nodded happily as he understood, before apparently realizing what that meant. "Wait, so he sees her like a toy?!"

"Apparently…" although, thinking about it, how did he know what she looked like under her clothes? He hoped that the man simply had a very good imagination.

Kamoshida ignored them, and cupped Ann's face, causing Ryuji to growl and ready his bat. "Hey, let go of her, you perv!"

"**How many times must I tell you until you understand? This is MY castle—a place in which I can do whatever I want. Everyone wishes to be loved by me." **Shadow Kamoshida scowled. "**Everyone, that is, besides slow-witted thieves like you."**

Morgana was still staring at Cognitive Ann, so he quickly smacked the cat on the back of the head. "Focus, Morgana. We have to be ready in case more guards show up."

The king sneered at them, having heard the byplay. "**Are you jealous? Well, I'm not surprised. Women aren't drawn to problematic punks like you."**

He barked out a laugh at that, staring the Shadow in the face with a sneer on his face as he spoke his mind to the perverted bastard. "Really? You're asking us that? The man that can only get laid in his disgusting fucking imagination? Oh please! You call yourself a king, when you're just a pathetic excuse for a man. Hell, I'm willing to bet money that you're still a virgin! What woman would want to touch you, _or_ your small dick, you bastard of Lust?"

Shadow Kamoshida's features grew more and more enraged during his short rant, while Ryuji and Morgana stared at him in awe-stricken amusement from the tongue-lashing he'd handed out. "**How dare you…! CLEAN THEM UP THIS INSTANT!"**

"Oh shit." He quickly began to regret his tirade as several more guards suddenly burst from the ground in showers of ooze, while Morgana hissed and jumped back.

"We're outnumbered! Let's scram before we get surrounded!"

"We're not gonna do anything, just run?!"

"We'll kick his shit in another time, Ryuji! Right now we have to go!" Morgana began running, and Akira grabbed Ryuji's arm and pulled him after them. "Live to fight another day!"

"Damnit… we'll expose what you're really like, Kamoshida! You better be ready for us!" He finished yelling and pulled his arm free, running after them.

"**I was beginning to get bored torturing the slaves already here! Come at me whenever you want! If you don't care about your lives! That is if you can even get out! Don't let them escape!" **

"Come on!" He shoulder bashed a door open, only for a guard to be standing on the other side. "Shit!" He ducked under its blade, before jumping up and jamming his gun under its mask and emptying all eight bullets into its shadow face. It fell back, losing its form, and they continued running. Before they could get to the room with their secret exit, more guards rounded a corner and blocked them off. He looked behind them and saw the other guards closing on their rear. "Damn it!"

"We have to lose them!" Morgana yelled.

"Through here!" Ryuji motioned from another door that led to a separate hallway, and they quickly ran through it. They could hear the clank of armor behind them, and Akira grit his teeth.

"We're completely lost, where do we go?!"

"I don't know!"

"Whaddya mean you don't know?! You've been exploring this castle longer than we have!"

Akira interrupted their argument by stopping and spinning in place. "Akira?! What are you doing?!"

"Buying time!" He ripped his mask off and summoned Arsène, commanding him to blast the center of the hall with an Eiha, causing the guards to scramble to a stop lest they have their bodies ravaged by the energy blast. "Go, find us an exit, now! We can't die here!"

"But—"

He glared at them, blue flames licking up around his eyes as Arsène stood vigil. "GO!"

"Shit… we'll be back, promise!" With that Ryuji and Morgana ran, searching for an exit. He turned back, eyeing the guards that were approaching now that the plume of energy had faded. He pulled his glove tight, which seemed to be a forming habit, and cracked his neck.

"Let's hold the line, Arsène."

"**With thy blade and my power, they shall not pass us!"**

The first guard swung its sword at him, and he rolled back, sending Arsène forward and Cleaving it in two. The body fell to the ground leaking ooze from its wound, while the other guards charged him and ignored their fallen ally. He deflected a sword with his gun, stabbing it in the neck, before kicking it back and knocking over two others.

One of the guards transformed into their true form, revealing a fairy-like creature fluttering her wings. She suddenly summoned sparks between her fingers and blasted a Zio at him, knocking him back a few steps and locking up his limbs as he processed the electricity. "S-Shit! Arsène, Eiha!" The fairy girl was ripped to shreds by the curse attack, giving him time to let his limbs loosen. He didn't have long, with the other guards charging at him, ready to skewer him.

He dodged one thrust and jumped up to grasp the knight's shoulders and flipped over it, landing behind it. Another knight tried to slash at him but he rolled to the side, causing it to strike at its ally. Another knight transformed into its Shadow self, becoming an imp and swiping at him with sharp talons. He blocked with his arm, wincing as it cut through his trench coat and drew blood, before stabbing up and severing its head from its body.

A burst of flame burnt his back before Arsène slashed at the Shadow responsible for the attack and dissipated it. Akira fell to his knees and grunted, feeling the burning heat wash over him. Thankfully, the odd reality that gave birth to the massive castle and his Persona seemed to enhance his strength and endurance to levels beyond what he'd normally be capable of. He still preferred a fast-paced fighting style, ducking and diving while delivering strikes only when he knew they'd land, but now his strikes landed harder, and any attacks that did hit him didn't do nearly as much damage as they'd do in the real world.

Still, he'd fought his way through the castle dungeons earlier with only Morgana, and before Ryuji had awakened he'd gotten his shit kicked in. He was practically running on fumes now, and the downside of using Personas was they drained you physically whenever they attacked with a strike, and mentally when they used their magic. He stumbled back and recalled Arsène, the flames around his face finally dying as his mask reappeared while he twirled his knife. There were still about a dozen knights, and he was too weak to keep using Arsène without causing permanent damage to his body.

The guards began closing in, several transforming into Shadows, and he grit his teeth, backing up. Was he going to die there? If so… then as long as Ryuji got to safety and exposed Kamoshida for the bastard he was, it was… not acceptable, no one wanted to die, but he'd get revenge from the grave.

**Thou art giving up?**

He grimaced as Arsène spoke from within him, his other self feeling all he felt, but expressing it openly rather than pushing it down to face his death with at least _some _dignity.

**I lent my aid, on the belief thou would always fight, even when it was to the bitter end, but thou stand there, blade and gun in thy hand, yet uninterested in continuing thy last stand.**

Damnit Arsène, even if he had more energy, he couldn't exactly battle his way through this many enemies on his own! Ryuji was exhausted from Awakening, and Morgana wasn't doing much better than he was. He absolutely loathed the thought of dying here, but what else could he do but buy them more time?!

**Keep fighting… I am thy other self, the power of thy heart and soul… but thou hast another power. Thou must reach in and unleash it, show thy rebellion to the world! The strength of thy mind!**

What other power? Mind? Rebellion? Morgana only ever told him of Personas. Was there something more he could do? He tried reaching into himself like he did when summoning Arsène, but found nothing. Damn it, the hell was his other self talking about?! He ducked back from another Zio before a sword clipped his shoulder and drew blood. "Shit!"

He fell, grasping his shoulder and hissing. Fuck! Fuck, damnit! This was…!

He was going to die!

An untransformed Shadow lifted their sword, ready to strike him down once and for all.

No…

NOT LIKE THIS!

He heard a roar in his head, felt his heart pumping, the warm blood under his hand, and he snarled viscously. He was _not _dying there! He pushed hard, reaching through his mind until he heard something similar to the snapping of a lock. For a moment he wasn't sure what exactly happened before he felt a rush of energy. His rebellious spirit flowed through his entire being, and silver, red and black energy crackled around his fingers and hands.

It was in his blood, rushing through his veins, overflowing! It was way too much! He had to let it out! He looked up at the falling sword and pushed it all through his arms and into his hands. The words appeared in his brain instinctively, and the air crackled as he unleashed the blast. "Rebellion Ω!"

He was thrown back, and the backlash of energy ripped and tore at his skin. "Fuck!" The flesh on his hands was flayed, his arms hurt when he moved them, and the only reason he could even see the damage was because the red gloves that he loved were torn apart. He would need to have Morgana cast Dia on him before he went back to the real world, but at least his gloves and suit were already beginning to regenerate. He slowly got up and gaped at the damage he'd caused. None of the shadows were still alive, either disintegrated or blown apart by the rays of red, black, and silver.

"Akira! We found— Whoa! What the eff?!" Ryuji rounded a corner and blinked at the destruction that greeted him.

"Was this because of your Persona?" Morgana questioned, right behind him.

"I… I don't…" he didn't know, and Arsène had fallen silent. Perhaps he was just as exhausted as him, but couldn't physically show it. Either way, he had no answer.

"W-Whatever, we need to go!" Akira nodded at Ryuji's words, stumbling as he tried to walk. The blond grabbed him and began hauling him along, towards the exit.

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

The escape from the castle went smoothly after that. Once they lost their pursuers within the twisting halls and made their way to their exit and entrance, Ryuji lay him on the ground and Morgana used the last of his energy to cast Dia on him, healing his wounds.

He had removed his regenerating gloves, and they watched as his muscles and skin knit back together. Once he was fully healed Morgana drooped from exhaustion, and he slipped back on his red clothing items. "Well… I'd say you owe me one for that!"

"I do," he admitted with a nod. "Thanks for healing me like that, Morgana."

"Mwehehe! It's nothing for someone with my level of skill!"

"Uh… ain't you panting and out of breath right now?" Ryuji pointed out.

"D-Don't… no, I'm completely fine!"

"Yeah… anyways!" Ryuji looked down and held his arms out. "I don't remember changin' into this!"

"That's what you focus on?" His lips twitched into a smile and he chuckled. "Well, it does look good on you."

"Kinda looks thuggish, so I don't know if I should be happy about that…" Ryuji grinned and elbowed him, "then again, it ain't as bad as yours, you look like a magician cosplay."

"You take that back," he poked Ryuji in the chest before they both began chuckling. The sounds of the guards suddenly reached their ears, and Morgana hissed for them to be quiet.

"Did you find them?!"

"No, keep searching!"

When the guards finally were out of earshot, Ryuji scratched his head. "So what's going on? I'm completely lost, man!"

"I told you before," Morgana spoke while shaking his head. "When a Persona-user opposes a Palace's ruler and becomes a threat to them, this happens. It's to prevent you from being affected by distortions."

Ryuji reached up and felt around his mask, "whoa, is this… a skull?"

"Your appearance reflects your inner self. It's the rebel that slumbers within."

"Yeah. Like I'm a thief. _Not a magician."_

Morgana continued as if he hadn't interrupted. "Not that you'll get it."

Ryuji snorted. "Nope."

"Then stop asking questions and accept what you see for what it is."

"Man, that's easy for you to say…" Ryuji suddenly gasped. "Wait! Oh man, we're in deep shit!"

"I said to be quiet!"

Ryuji ignored Morgana and continued. "We might've gotten away here, but we're still screwed with Kamoshida at the real school!"

"Shit, you're right," he cursed.

"That's pretty sharp of you, Ryuji! For being an idiot." Morgana waved his paws, "relax, the Kamoshida in reality can't possibly know about what happens here. A Shadow is the true self that is suppressed— a side of one's personality they don't want to see."

"So we're okay?"

"Did the Kamoshida in reality remember about the execution?"

"He didn't," he murmured, Ryuji nodding along.

"There you have it."

Ryuji grinned. "Well then, now that we know that, all we've gotta do is—"

"Wait! I guided you as promised. Now it's your turn to cooperate with me."

"Huh?"

"What are you talking about?"

Morgana scoffed and crossed his paws. "Why do you think I was super nice about teaching you idiots everything?"

"Cooperate?" Ryuji asked.

"Don't you remember? I originally came here for an investigation. I need to erase the distortion from my body and regain my real form! That's why we must delve deep into Kamoshida's mind, and—"

"Whoa, hold up, what are you goin' on about? We never said anything about helpin' you out!"

Morgana let out an 'eh?' sound, waving his arms as he stared at Ryuji. "Don't tell me… are you not going to repay the hospitality I've shown you?!" He turned away from Ryuji and pointed around him, "Especially you! You're going to up and leave, even though you're already a part of my master plan?!"

He sighed, kneeling. "Listen, thanks for the help and all, but we kind of have the issue of Kamoshida abusing everyone and getting away with it. We'll help you out once we expose Kamoshida, but for now, we've gotta go."

"Wha— the nerve of you! Is it because I'm not human…? Because I'm like a cat?! Is that why you're making a fool of me?!"

"We're busy," Ryuji cut in. "Now quit it! Ugh, look, thanks for everything, cat. You've got some real guts, bein' a cat and all. See you around!" Even though Ryuji had been attempting to comfort him, his words just made Morgana even more infuriated.

Ryuji nodded at him and they turned and jogged away, leaving behind splashes of red and purple liquid as Morgana raved. "Hey! What the hell?! Ugh, seriously, why are you both leaving like everything's all hunky-dory?! He…" he couldn't hear any more of the cat's words, Because as they crossed the bridge and made their way for the alleyway across the street the world shifted, and they were suddenly back in the real world.

"You have returned to the real world. Welcome back." He glanced down at his phone as it spoke, before slipping it into his pockets. He was a bit disappointed he didn't have his trench coat anymore, but maybe he could buy one for the real world… Ryuji was leaning against the alley wall and sighing, rubbing his forehead.

"Thank god… we're back."

"As much fun as that place is, I'll admit I feel a bit of relief," he chuckled.

"Yeah… hey man, I dragged you around a lot today, didn't I? Sorry man…"

He chuckled and elbowed him. "Nah, no worries."

Ryuji grinned, before sighing. "Man, I'm dead tired… how you holdin' up?"

"I'm pretty tired too. Could use a nap… don't worry though, it seems like it's just the first time that really takes it out of you."

"Gotcha… but man, a nap does sound pretty good. Still… Damn, if what we saw was for real, this is gonna get good!" Ryuji did a fist pump, the excitement clearly overpowering his fatigue. "I totally remember the faces of the guys Kamoshida was treatin' like slaves! Once we make 'em fess up to any physical abuse, Kamoshida will be done!"

"Sounds good to me," he replied with a dark smirk.

"So…" Ryuji rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "I know I already asked you to come with me today, but… want to help me look for those guys or any witnesses?"

"Well, it's probably safer than fighting for our lives inside a magic castle."

"Ha, now that's what I'm talkin' about!" Ryuji nodded, before looking away. "Hey, so… if you're thinking of laying low now 'cause you got a record, I don't think that'll help…"

"Yeah," he sighed and thought back to all the gossip he'd heard while in class and the halls. "Seems like everyone already knows. They think I'm going to knife them if they look at me funny."

"Yeah, they've already got you pegged…"

"And let me guess who's fault that could be…"

"Exactly." Ryuji nodded, crossing his arms and scowling. "Kamoshida. The damn bastard opened his mouth! I mean, no one besides a teacher coulda known about your record, and it doesn't matter if it's a student or a club, if he don't agree with it, he wrecks it! Just like he did to me…!" They both glanced down at Ryuji's bad knee.

He suddenly punched Ryuji on the shoulder, "Hey, that asshole's gonna get what's coming to him. Mark my fuckin' words."

Ryuji laughed softly, a melancholy tint to his voice. "No one'll take anything I say seriously. But with two of us, maybe we've got a shot. Plus, after seeing Kamoshida's distorted heart thing in person, there's no way I can just sit back!"

"You know what I think?" He adjusted his glasses and offered his hand. "I think you can count on me."

"Hell yeah! I'm getting all hyped up about this! Kamoshida's goin' down!" Ryuji clasped his hand in a bro-shake and grinned, matching his smirk. His heart swelled at Ryuji's eagerness, and willingness to stay by his side.

**He is a good ally… One who shalt never betray our trust. **He smiled, agreeing with Arsène's words within his psyche.

A bond of trust was formed between the two of them, alongside a vow to take down Kamoshida.

**I am **_**Thou**_**. Thou art I.  
****T****hou hast acquired a **_**new**_ **vow.**

**It shall **_**become**_ **the Wings of Rebellion  
****that **_**breaketh**_ **thy chains of captivity.**

**With the **_**birth**_ **of the Chariot Persona,  
****I have obtained the winds of blessing that  
****shall lead to **_**freedom**_ **and new power…**

**Chariot Arcana, Ryuji Sakamoto: Rank One**

In Akira's heart, chains were broken with a booming '_SMASH!' _With the shattered chains, his bond With Ryuji Sakamoto of the Chariot Arcana was formed, and Ryuji became his new Confidant. Only Akira noticed, however, frowning slightly at the noise and feeling of power welling inside him, separating as Ryuji clutched his stomach after it began growling.

"Oh right… I haven't eaten anything since lunch."

"Doesn't help that we were working off a hellish amount of calories in there," he spoke while inclining his head towards the school.

"Yeah. Well, it'd be weird splitting off now, so why don't we grab a bite somewhere?"

"I don't know any places around here besides a crappy little coffee and curry place, so you'll have to show me that famous Japanese cuisine."

Ryuji grinned and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Leave it to me, man! I mean, hey, I still haven't learned anything about your past, but you pretty much heard it all in there."

"Pay for my food and I'll give you all the info you could want on the Akira lifestyle," he chuckled, following the boy as he thought of the chains and voice that had echoed in his mind. Was this what Igor had meant, when he spoke of forming bonds…?

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Ryuji•

"Aw man, that's such bullshit!"

"Please, tell me more about the various types of shit while I'm eating and slurping on some noodles." Ryuji winced as Akira's sarcasm washed over him, and he rubbed the back of his head embarrassed.

"Ah, sorry dude."

"Eh, it's fine. And I completely agree. It was several different types of fucked up." Akira stared into his bowl and Ryuji saw his normally calm expression turn angry for a moment before he went back to bored. "But, I mean, there's nothing I can do about it."

"Geez, I don't know how you can be so calm about it… if it were me I'd be ranting and raving!"

Akira shrugged at him, poking at his ramen. "Yes, well, I'm usually a quiet person. I don't normally let… hm, I suppose the right word would be passion? Yeah, I don't let passion overwhelm me. Besides, with how much sway that man seemed to have, raging about it would just make it worse for me. Better to just bottle it up."

"That's not healthy, dude." He slurped up some more noodles as Akira rolled his eyes, before continuing. "But you're 'usually quiet?' Then explain that rant you shot at Kamoshida! Man, that was effin' awesome!"

Ryuji saw Akira's cool demeanor fade into embarrassment for a brief second, before the ravenette shrugged. "I think it's because I feel so free in that place. Summoning Arsène, being able to take out my frustration on Shadows… I can be more confident and express myself. I guess."

"I mean, I don't really get that, since I usually say what's on my mind without really thinking about it…"

"And how much trouble has _that _gotten you into?"

He punched Akira in the shoulder as they laughed, "but I guess if I looked at it from your end, it makes sense." They continued eating, while he looked at Akira out of the corner of his eye. He'd only known him for a couple of days, but already he was closer to him than anybody in the school. Sure, it was because he had transferred and hadn't known anything about his bad reputation, and they'd been together to witness Kamoshida's castle, but even though he didn't have any obligation to continue exploring, and could have just ducked his head and made it through the year quietly, he decided to stick his neck out and help him without hesitation.

"Hey, Akira…" the boy looked up at him, and he licked his lips as he thought about his next words. "I know that you already agreed to help me with this, but… why?"

"Why?" Akira blinked and shrugged. "Well… for one, Shadow Kamoshida nearly killed us, so I'm getting revenge for that." That was fair enough. "Two, I was just really curious about that world and wanted to explore more of it." Also fair, even if he didn't understand much about it, he was still fascinated with the place. "Three, it was… the right thing to do. At first, we didn't know that those slaves were just cognitions, so I wanted to save them all. But then after we found out that they just reflect what Kamoshida thinks of them in the real world, and we figured he was doing something similar? I couldn't just leave someone to be abused like that. It wouldn't be right."

"That's a pretty cliche answer you know. Doing something just because it's right." He grinned as Akira flipped him off.

"Shut your mouth, lightning boy. And four…" There was a fourth reason? "You asked for my help."

"Huh?" He wasn't expecting that, that was for sure.

Akira shrugged, eyes meeting his for a moment. "You asked," he repeated. "Back in the dungeon, you tried to sacrifice yourself for me, even though we weren't friends, and you barely knew me for more than ten minutes. You're a good guy, Ryuji, and Kamo-shit-a is the reason you have such a shitty rep as a delinquent. Since I'm the only one who can see past that, I'll stick with you and prove that asshole's a piece of garbage."

"Dude…" he rubbed his eyes and grinned. "You know… I think we'll get along just fine as troublemakers. This year might not be so bad as long as you're here."

"Yeah, you'll have to show me around Tokyo as well."

"Heh, maybe we should pick up some chicks!"

He watched as Akira choked on his food before he began chuckling. "Who the hell says that? 'Pick up chicks?' What are you, my dad?" He just laughed with him, understanding he wasn't laughing _at_ him.

"I dunno, if your dad says stuff like that he's probably a cool dude!"

Akira faltered for a single moment before he snorted and rolled his eyes. "No, trust me, he's happy with mom. But whenever he tried to get me to get a girlfriend he phrased it in that way, and threw around gang signs or some shit to act 'hip.'" He shuddered, although his lips did quirk into a smirk.

"What, you never had a girl before? I guess I've gotta teach you some of the Sakamoto charms!"

"Sorry, I don't want girls running away from me." He choked on some noodles at how quick he'd fired back, before laughing. Man, he hadn't had a conversation like this in… forever! "And besides, I was always more interested in studying and the small clubs I was in. All the rest of my free time was spent reading or playing video games."

"Well that won't do, we've got to get you out there, make you some more friends! I'm sure you're missing all the ones from back home!" Akira grimaced a moment, and he quickly realized he may have just had another moment where his mouth spoke before his brain did. "Ah shit dude, I didn't mean to make you feel—"

"No, it's fine. It's just…" Akira stared into space, his eyes occasionally slipping to him, before going back to nothing. "…it's something I've dealt with for a while, but I'm not really comfortable speaking about it, I guess…"

"Oh, so… you're not sad about leaving anyone behind?"

"No, I mean, I miss my family, but missing friends…?" He shook his head. "Sorry, but… I don't really feel like explaining that right now. Sorry if I brought the mood down."

"Hey man, don't apologize! I'm usually the one that has to do that after I run my mouth!" He nudged him, before grinning. "Come on, let's finish the ramen before it gets soggy!" He began chowing down and Akira did the same after chuckling a moment. As they did, Ryuji thought about what Akira had said. He may not have been the brightest apple in the bunch, but if the clues were clear enough, then he could decipher a puzzle! Akira hesitates when talking about his dad, even though he clearly loved him, and he didn't talk about any friends, or at least, didn't allude to anything about them, like being sad he'd leave them behind. What exactly did that mean? Did he have no friends back home? He was pretty cool, besides the serious or calm demeanor he usually wore, so he had to have been friends with _someone. _

…nope, couldn't figure it out. Maybe eventually he could, but right now they had bigger fish to fry. Namely, Kamo-shit-a.

Holy hell, he'd just noticed that wordplay Akira came up with. How had he not thought of that?!

* * *

**Once again it's the fourteenth, and so the next chapter comes out. Almost time for the Royal! Chapters involving Confidants will probably have a large part of the chapter dedicated to the Confidant because of how the story is dedicated to bonds. Ah, and PSI! I didn't want to make Rebellion anything special, so it is the same as Rockin', Hope, or Despair, but colored red, black and silver to match the color scheme of Persona 5. More unique PSI will appear for Akira to wield soon. **

**Funnily enough, I completely forgot that the Psy element exists in P5, so that'll affect Arsène. I'm thinking that maybe he now has resistance to Psy alongside Curse, while it won't affect his weakness to Bless and Ice. Speaking of, does anyone know why Arsène is weak to Ice? Does it have something to do with any of the novels he's from? Does Arsène Lupin get hypothermia in one of them? There's no explanation I can think of... **

**More will be explained about Joker's life back home, but that'll be later. There's a reason the last part of the chapter was from Ryuji's POV so that he could wonder and not have the answers. Y'know, I got introduced to Persona through a crossover fic, and I remember thinking that the writer was taking way too many chapters to get through Kamoshida's castle... but no, the beginning of this game is just long as hell. Now that I'm writing, it just really makes it sink in how long the beginning of this game is lol.**

**In any case, leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read. See y'all next time. **


	5. Chapter 5: The Fool

Chapter 5: The Fool

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Akira•

As he got ready for bed later that night his phone dinged to indicate a text. He pulled it out as he removed his shirt to grab a t-shirt, and saw that Ryuji had messaged him.

**Ryuji—** Hey I decided 2 go ahead n message u

**Ryuji—** Can u c this?

He sighed and rolled his eyes when he realized Ryuji was one of _those _texters, before sending a reply back.

**You—** Nope.

**Ryuji—** U SO can!

**Ryuji—** I'm gonna b counting on u tomorrow ok?

**You—** Got it.

**Ryuji—** ur a bro man

**You—** Damn, I've been bro-zoned.

**You—** Press F to pay respects.

**Ryuji—** F!

**Ryuji—** Anyway c u tomorrow!

**Ryuji—** Let's save those guys who've been abused! U n me!

**Ryuji—** Oh btw the thingy on ur phone was some kinda eye right?

**Ryuji—** The nav app?

**You—** Yes, a red and black eyeball with a star in the center.

**Ryuji—** It's weird but I just found it on my phone.

**Ryuji—** I don't even remember installing it!

**You—** That's unsettling…

**Ryuji—** 4real! What is this thing?

**Ryuji—** Think it's being downloaded on its own somehow?

**You—** It may be dangerous to use something without knowing what it is, but it's helped us out so far.

**Ryuji—** Ur right about that.

**Ryuji—** Anyway I guess we'll be finding evidence of the abuse tomorrow!

**Ryuji—** I'm counting on u! Don't go ditching school on me!

**You—** Damn, and I wanted to avoid that test tomorrow.

**You—** Don't worry, I'll be there. I'll see you at the rally.

**Ryuji—** C u!

He finished putting on his sleeping clothes and pulled up the app. He could see the search function and his history on it, Kamoshida's palace being the only thing there. After a few moments of thinking, he closed the app and moved on to his next train of thought. He opened his hand and concentrated before red and black flashes of light began bursting from his palm. He jumped in shock, not having expected it to work.

When he'd tried to speak to Arsène in the real world, his Persona could respond, but he couldn't exactly summon him since his mask didn't exist. This energy was crackling at his fingertips… what exactly was it? It couldn't be the same energy that made up Personas, and Morgana didn't seem to know anything about it since he thought the carnage he'd created was because of Arsène.

Arsène, sensing his inner questions and having recovered fully as well, responded. **I, unfortunately, have none of the answers thou art looking for. As thy other self, I know all that thou knoweth, but nothing more, and nothing less.**

But then how had he known about Rebellion in the first place? Arsène had even told him something about how he had the strength of his mind…

**I could sense a well of power within us, aching to be freed, but I know not of what it truly is…**

Hm… well, that didn't answer much. He looked down at his hand and frowned. Could he do anything else with it? He knew that shooting it out obliterated all the enemies he'd been facing, but he wasn't sure how. Was it just pure energy that they couldn't contain, and exploded from within? Was it something that exploded on contact and destroyed them? Was it just… something?

He tried summoning more energy to his hands and watched as the veins under his skin became more visible, beginning to glow brighter the more energy he poured into them. Silvers and reds and blacks, and then the air itself began flowing around his arms. His eyes glowed with excitement, and the word repeated in his head once more.

Rebellion.

It was what gave them strength within Kamoshida's Palace, what made it so that he, Ryuji, and Morgana could summon their Personas, what manifested their thief clothing, and it allowed them to finally get an edge on Kamoshida.

"Rebellion," he whispered. The light glowed brighter, but nothing happened. Did he have to do something else? He thought back, and remembered saying something… what was it? It sounded… Greek? Yeah, something like that… So… Gamma? Sigma? Chi? Upsilon? Omega?

That was it! Omega! But it had ripped apart his hands when he'd tried using it, and it had kind of destroyed everything in its path, so maybe he shouldn't try using it inside his new room… maybe there was a weaker version? It could have levels of power. If he remembered correctly, Omega was the last letter of the Greek alphabet, so would Alpha be the weakest version of the attack?

He walked to his window and opened it, aiming up at the sky so he wouldn't destroy anything. "Rebellion α…" the moments he whispered the words with the intent to fire, energy blasted from his palms and shot into the sky. Having not expected it to work, he fell back on his ass and looked up in wonder as the tri-colored Attack flew higher. He winced as it suddenly hit a bird and exploded it, but at least that was better than it falling back to the earth and hurting someone. Would it have fallen? It was pure energy, but he wasn't sure how exactly it worked…

He sat on his bed and pulled out his phone, trying to look up anything that could give him a clue as to what it was. The first thing he searched for was 'magic powers,' but most of the results were just fandom websites for various video games or shows explaining the mechanics behind their magic systems. That wasn't very helpful, so he tried another term, 'soul energy.'

It had to be something similar to Arsène, so it could be some form of soul power. But that search term just got him were a bunch of voodoo, yoga, oddly enough, and fake psychic websites. He sighed and rubbed his head, before an idea struck him. The psychic websites were pretty clearly bullshit, but that didn't mean that his own powers weren't real psychic energy. Plus, Arsène has called it the strength of his mind!

**This could lead us to the answers we desire… **

Agreeing with Arsène, he began looking up research papers and theories on psychic powers, but he was getting nothing back— until he struck gold.

It was an article written on the theory of there being some kind of latent potential hidden in the mind that could be drawn out or cut off with the right training or science. Apparently, there had been documented cases in the past of people with Psionic potential, or, when shortened, PSI potential. The names of these people were withheld for privacy reasons, but they had a multitude of powers.

Photokinesis, psychokinesis, pyrokinesis, glaciokinesis, electrokinesis, chronokinesis, clairvoyance and precognition, energy-medicine and psychic-surgery, levitation, telepathy, teleportation… the list went on and on, with explanations for the more unclear kinesis', like glaciokinesis being the ability to psychically control ice, or photokinesis being the ability to control light. There was an attached photograph as well, apparently one of the powers in play. It was old, grainy and blurry, making it difficult to make out the person in the picture besides the red and blue shirt, but the rays flowing from their hands were the main focus of the picture— rays _extremely _similar to his own, colored red, blue, and yellow.

Now, he was intelligent. He knew that the picture could very well have been photoshopped or something similar, but given the fact that the attack looked similar to his own, just swap blue for silver, and it had a high likelihood of being real. He yawned as he read and looked at the time, only to curse when he realized that it was way too late at night. He saved the website to his phone so he could find it easily later, and quickly set an alarm. He didn't want to accidentally be late, after all.

* * *

His eyes snapped open, and he groaned when he realized that he was back inside the Velvet Room. He got up and saw Justine and Caroline waiting for him to wake, and once they noticed he was up, they turned towards Igor. He sighed as he dragged the iron ball attached to his foot towards the cell door before he leaned against the bars. "Lolice. Nose."

"Show some more respect, Inmate!" Caroline smacked her baton into his cell door causing him to hiss and shake his hands.

Igor simply chuckled with that shiver-inducing voice of his, staring at him. "Welcome to the Velvet Room. I thought about resuming our previous conversation tonight. That is why I have summoned you. But first… What are your thoughts? Have you become accustomed to this place?"

"The place is still dreary as hell, but I'm not constantly trying to break down this door… so sure. I guess I'm getting more used to it."

Igor nodded, "Glad to hear it. It seems you have nerves of steel. Your rehabilitation determines if Ruin can be stopped. Yet, such a feat cannot be done by you alone." Igor shifted his long, stick-like legs to place one over the other. "But today, you have entered a partnership with someone who awoke to the same power, haven't you?"

"Yeah, Ryuji. I heard something about a Chariot Persona?"

Igor tapped his desk, and Akira finally noticed a new addition on the wood. A card was sitting on it, with an odd black, white, silver, and red design on it. It showed a man with a scepter and broken arm riding in a chariot that had the letters S and M inscribed on it while being drawn by two horses, one black and one white. Le • Chariot was written on the bottom of the card and on top was the roman numeral for seven, a V and two I's, while below the card was a silver nameplate with 'Ryuji Sakamoto' written on it.

"Involving yourself with others is an important foundation for your recovery. You've done well. That said, I am not advising for the formation of superficial relationships."

"What's that mean?"

Igor waved his hand as he explained, causing Ryuji's card to float off the table. "It must not be of frivolity, but a ring of those who would, by morals or faith, lend you their strength. In other words, they are bonds with those who have been robbed of their place to belong. The expansion of said ring will, in return, help you mature as well."

"I don't exactly feel good about using people to get stronger."

Justine looked to him, "Personas are the strength of heart. The stronger the bonds that surround you, the more power your personas will gain. Even if you feel like you are manipulating them, you must join their strength with yours to avoid Ruin."

Caroline spoke up next, tapping her baton against her shoulder. "There are countless people in this city who have talents that a weakling like you doesn't! You better rack that noggin of yours and get them on your side. We'll change that into power."

"I like Justine, she's nice enough, but can I trade in my Caroline? I'm not into the tsundere loli archetype."

"What was that, Inmate?!"

He shook his head, "whatever, you still haven't told me exactly what this ruin is, but if that's what I need to do… I'll try and find my own way of getting Confidants without manipulating them."

Igor laughed, folding his hands below his chin. "You should be prepared to use even myself, or your ambitions will not come to fruition. However, if you believe you can bond with the people around you in such a way, I would be delighted to see it…"

"You can count on me, then."

"Hmhmhm… we have a deal, then." As Igor's grin seemed to widen, he sighed. He could feel Igor's high expectations, and even if he didn't fully trust the odd man, he would attempt to live up to them. If only to stop whatever this Ruin was.

**We may not know of his motivations completely, but he has not betrayed us so far. **He silently agreed with Arsène's hum within his head.

A bond of trust was formed between the two of them, based on a vow to stop Ruin.

**I am **_**Thou**_**. Thou art I.  
****Thou hast acquired a **_**new**_ **vow.**

**It shall **_**become**_ **the Wings of Rebellion  
****that **_**breaketh**_ **thy chains of captivity.**

**With the birth** **of the **_**Fool**_ **Persona,  
****I have obtained the winds of blessing that  
****shall lead to freedom** **and new **_**power…**_

**Fool Arcana, Prison Master: Rank One**

Akira's heart was filled with the sound of chains shattering, and he felt more power welling up inside of him. He frowned, trying to make sense of the words that were spoken into his mind. The voice was female and sounded different from Arsène's, yet she spoke about how the birth of a new Persona led to her obtaining the winds of blessing that lead to freedom and power…

Who was the owner of that voice? He could swear that it sounded familiar and that he'd heard it before, but he couldn't think of where… **I know not either, **Arsène spoke, **but we may yet find answers should we search.**

Suddenly, next to Ryuji's card, another appeared. This had the same color scheme, with a man holding a hitchhiker's bag over his shoulder and wearing what looked to be a jester's outfit, while a dog was jumping behind him. On the bottom of the card were words that read 'Le • Mat', and underneath the card itself was another silver nameplate that had Igor written upon it.

"In any case," Igor spoke once more, "you will understand it all in due time. Continue devoting yourself to your rehabilitation."

Caroline smirked, "Now, this conversation's over! Get lost, Inmate!" He sighed and walked back to his cot, laying down as his consciousness drifted away, letting him exit the Velvet Room and drift into a peaceful sleep for the rest of the night.

* * *

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

_4/13, Wednesday _

Akira's day started alright. He had some curry for breakfast, which he still thought was weird but at least it tasted delicious, heard some guys and girls gushing about getting to see Kamoshida play during the rally, and slept through his classes as he'd stayed up too late studying his powers.

The volleyball rally itself led to a downward spiral in terms of his mood. The student teams were getting crushed, and Kamoshida was visibly drinking in the praise, especially whenever any of the girls cheered for him. He turned to Ryuji and stuck a finger down his throat, pretending to throw up, causing the faux-blond to snicker.

At one point, some boy with dark blue hair, who Akira recognized as the one from his class, was spiked directly in the face. After he crumpled to the ground, Akira quickly jabbed Ryuji in the side. "This might be our chance to leave quietly," he whispered.

"Right, right!" They quickly got up and grabbed the boy from the ground.

"We'll take him to the nurse's office, don't worry. Hey, you alright?" He knelt and draped the boy's arm over his shoulder, while Ryuji helped him up.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine…"

"We should still take you to the nurse, that might very well start bruising."

"Uh, yeah, what he said…" he rolled his eyes at Ryuji, before helping the boy out of the gymnasium and to the nurse. He ignored all of the students that had begun to whisper when he offered to help, even if he bristled slightly when several thought that he and Ryuji would mug the kid after they were out of sight. It was only a short trip, and once they were done they made their way back to the courtyard to talk about their plan.

He grabbed a soda from one of the vending machines as Ryuji scowled to himself, leaning against a table. "Damnit, that asshole's acting like a King over here too. Get to know each other better my ass, it's just a one-man show for him to stroke his ego!"

He snorted as he tossed a second soda over to the blond. "And did you see that little act he put on with the blue-haired kid? Most everyone was watching the kid, so they didn't see that sneer he had on before he started acting concerned." He shook his head and took a drink, "he'll get what's coming to him."

"Hell yeah he will! Anyway, now let's put our plan into action! Let's find those guys who were getting abused and make them spill their beans!"

"Right. Do you remember what they looked like? I don't know anybody here, so it was harder for me to memorize their faces."

"Don't worry, I got 'em all in my head! Let's see… actually, I think one of them is in your class! Let's start there!"

And that's when his mood went from bad to worse. The first person they questioned started smoothly. His skill in lying plus Ryuji's brash attitude hit the boy from two directions like the classic good and bad cop shit you would see on television and disoriented him long enough to admit that there was some form of abuse, but when the boy asked if they had any proof, Ryuji winced back and began stuttering which the boy took as a clear sign that they had nothing, and before he could remedy the situation to get the boy back on track, the kid steeled himself and stopped talking.

After that, they quickly split up to cover more ground. But even with his skill with wordplay, nobody was speaking up. Their terror of Kamoshida was stronger than his silver tongue. A first, but not surprising. If this had been going on for a while, then somebody had to have tried something already to get the truth out there but were taken down by Kamoshida, setting an example for everyone else.

He crushed his soda can, before tossing it towards the courtyard's trash can. When he missed he let out a groan and stalked forward to pick it up and dunk it in.

Bzzt bzzt. He took out his phone and saw a new message from Ryuji.

**Ryuji—** Damn this effin sucks!

**Ryuji—** Nobodys speaking up!

He rolled his eyes at Ryuji's texting style, before leaning against the vending machine and sending a quick text back.

**You—** You're right, it's certainly frustrating.

**You—** I'm in the courtyard if you want to meet up and discuss what to do next. I think I've got at least a small lead. Someone mentioned a 'Mishima.' We could try getting him to talk.

**Ryuji—** Alright im omw.

He closed the messaging app and opened the Metaverse Navigator, looking at the Castle. So far, nothing they did was working. If this Mishima guy turned out to be a dead-end, then there was nothing they could do. So, what if they tried something new? If Kamoshida's castle was formed from his desires, could they somehow affect Kamoshida in the real world by doing stuff in the palace?

"Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?" He looked up from his phone and blinked when he saw Takamaki-san standing in front of him. He felt another blush creep up his neck, before furiously stamping it down. He'd embarrassed himself once in front of her, he wasn't going to go two-for-two! And besides that, she looked serious about something.

"Uh, yeah, I guess I'm not doing anything. What's up?" He pushed his phone into his pocket and began drumming his fingers along his leg.

She looked to be in thought for a moment, playing with one of her pigtails absentmindedly, before her eyes met his again. "So, what was that all about? On your first day here, I mean."

"Ah," he winced, thinking back to that. She probably was pretty curious, with everything considered.

"I saw you just a few minute's walk from school, but you don't show up until the day is almost over."

"Yeah…" shit, he didn't have anything planned! He hadn't expected her to come looking for answers like this! "Well…" something natural, what could he say? He was a new transfer from a different country in a strange city that was way bigger than his hometown and was caught with a student who was thought of as a troublemaker and delinquent… "on my way to the school, I met up with Ryuji. Or, I guess you call him Sakamoto-san. We talked for a little while, and when I told him that I was new to Tokyo, he decided to take me on a tour around Shibuya, to see the arcade, and stuff like that, help me get to know the city. When we were caught we just decided to head back and finish the rest of the school day."

There. Not perfect, there were a few inconsistencies here and there. Why not go after school, instead of ditching? He was clearly smart, so why would he even say okay to ditching school in the first place? Hopefully, that wasn't noticeable yet, since even when he answered a question in class correctly, most people still didn't think much of it, but still. Then there was the fact that he had told her Shibuya Crossing by itself had almost given him a panic attack, so why would he say okay to more exploration?

From the look on the girl's face, she'd noticed at least one of those inconsistencies, and he hid a wince. If she asked him to explain any further he might just end up digging his own grave. "Right, well… What do you think of Shujin so far?"

"Big," he immediately answered. "My old school was smaller, and definitely not as fancy. You could use some more clubs though, the only thing I've heard of so far is the professional hot potato club."

Takamaki-san blinked. "The what?"

"Isn't volleyball just professional hot potato?"

"I…" she looked at nothing, and a smile pulled at her lips. "I guess so. Did you have any clubs you were a part of back home?"

"A few. I tried out for all of them until I found something I liked, sports teams too. I was pretty good at baseball, basketball too. Self-defense clubs were what I was best at. Anyways, aside from the fact that volleyball is the only thing I hear about at this school, I guess it's not so bad. Already made friends with Ryuji."

"That's good… I'm sure you know the rumors are already spreading about you, so at least you know someone."

"Yeah, Ryuji and you." He shrugged. "Besides, I'm trying not to let the rumors bother me. It's almost funny. Apparently, I'm a drug-dealing murderer who carries a knife and gun around with him at all times." He neglected to mention the fact that after leaving the Metaverse the very first time, his dagger had come with him, and he had to quickly hide it out of sight, plus his model gun that Ryuji had bought, but that wasn't important. "Hey, I might be the most dangerous man in all of Tokyo right now. Might think about starting up a Yakuza, or mafia, or whatever the hell."

"Wouldn't that just make the rumors true?" She asked with a wry smile.

"Hey, every rumor has a spot of truth to it," he winked. "You just have to find out what that truth is."

"Trying to be mysterious?"

"Isn't that what the ladies like?" Oh god, kill him. Kill him now. That had been the first response that came to mind and it was way too fucking cheesy. His dad would be slapping him on the back with a prideful grin for such a horrible line.

Luckily, Takamaki-san simply laughed. "I don't know, you don't seem that mysterious to me."

"Trust me, I'm plenty mysterious." Well, if she found it funny, then roll with it!

"I'm sure you are." She hesitated now, and he tilted his head in confusion. "Were you… planning on joining the volleyball team?"

"Nope. No offense to you if you like it, but it's never been that interesting to me. Plus, there's Kamoshida…" he muttered the last part to himself, glaring at nothing. She seemed to hear him though, mouthing his words in confusion.

"Anyway…" she took a deep breath. "You've been walking around and talking with the volleyball team, right?"

**Stay wary, **Arsène quickly spoke.

He straightened up, raising an eyebrow. Alright, what was this about then? "Yeah, I noticed that they looked pretty bruised. I wanted to ask them about it." Better not mention Ryuji and throw him under the bus, unless he was already mentioned.

"I don't know why you are, people get injured like that in sports and training all the time."

He couldn't help the scoff that left his lips and watched as the girl narrowed her pretty eyes. "To that extent? I don't think so. _Something _is obviously wrong here, and I'm going to find out what."

"They have tournaments coming up, so I'm sure it's just that they're training hard. And why are you even bothering? None of it concerns you."

"Because I'm not the kind of person who just stands idly by and lets evil acts take place simply because I'm scared of retaliation." He spoke calmly yet firmly. "Do you even know anything that's going on in those practices?" He should probably stop before he revealed something that he shouldn't logically know, but he kept going, his voice slowly rising in volume. "Some of those kids are in casts for sprained limbs, and some of them have broken limbs! It's practically torture! Is that not a reason to investigate? Or are you one of those cowards that thinks that averting their eyes will make the world a better place!?"

Shit, maybe he'd gone too far… he might've let his frustration at not finding anything so far faint his words, and taken it out on the girl. He sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Look—"

"What's going on in those practices then?" Shit, he had spilled too much. "You say these things like you know, so tell me, what exactly is happening?" Her voice was cold, and her eyes narrowed.

"I don't know, I was just thinking out loud."

"Bullshit. Don't try and tell me you don't know. My— a friend is on that team, and if something is happening—"

Damn, and now he got her worried for her friend. "Look, as I said, I was just thinking out loud using the facts that I know. They look way too injured but, hell, I could be wrong, all right? How would I even know? I just want to see what I can do to help them if anything is even wrong. And it might not be!"

"Look, you're just making things harder for the volleyball team and myself with your little detective act, especially if Kamoshida finds out. He'll be pissed."

"Let him be pissed then," he shot back. "At least I won't hide away from potential consequences when people need help." What was with this girl? He could feel his anger rising the more she talked back, riling up his slow temper and testing his font of patience. But this girl just somehow got it rising almost as fast as Shadow Kamoshida had.

"Fuck you asshole, you don't know what I'm going through to help my friend!" She cut herself off and growled, crossing her arms. "Listen, just quit trying to help, you're only making it worse."

"Uh, how about no? You can go if you'd like, but I am not a coward. And you're talking about us snooping around? What do you think you're doing right now, interrogating me?" he scoffed. And the conversation had started so well. Sarcasm and dry wit that had made each of them laugh at the beginning was now pushing off each other, escalating as each of them spoke.

"Why the hell would I leave now when you just said you wouldn't stop?! I don't want to deal with Kamoshida's bullshit if you keep harassing everyone! You two pretending to be investigators is helping no one, for your information!"

"You know what? I'm done here. If you're going to try and protect Kamoshida after all the shit he's done—"

"He's done?"

He growled, cutting himself off. "Fucking forget it. I'm out." He stalked forward and moved past her, while she glared at him.

"Hey, we aren't done here!"

"Really? I've heard that when someone walks away that means the conversations over! Or am I mistaken, your highness? Have the rules of the civilized world changed that much over the past few days while I hunkered in isolation?" He didn't give her a chance to respond, continuing to walk.

"Goddammit, you asshole, get back here!"

"For what? You to keep yelling at me? Oh, I'm sorry your highness, let me get down on my knees and beg your forgiveness for ignoring you!" He was about to continue, but a shock of blond hair that _didn't _belong to a girl drew his gaze. "Oh thank fucking Christ… Ryuji! Over here!"

"Yo!" As Ryuji limped over, his grin melted into a confused frown. "Uh, Takamaki-san?"

"Listen she's been on my ass for a while now, help me deal with this."

"Uh, right." The blond stepped forward and raised an eyebrow. "What exactly do you want with Akira?"

"Uh, why do you care? I can talk with whoever I want without your permission, what do you want with him? You've only known him for maybe a couple days!"

"We're friends," Ryuji spoke without hesitation, smirking. It drew a smile to his own face to hear him say it so quickly. "I've got his back, he's got mine. We're each other's right-hand man. So, what do _you _want with him?"

Takamaki-san just huffed with irritation, glaring at the both of them. He may have been like a pool of sarcastic water, ebbing and flowing through a conversation, but Ryuji was more like a brick wall, or maybe a bulldozer. He could either plow straight through a conversation with zero tact or stay on the defensive and not give anything up. When he had proper preparation of course. Together, it would be hard for her to get anything she wanted out of them. "What exactly are you planning on doing to Kamoshida? You're making trouble for everyone, and it'll be even worse for both of you."

He'd heard this already, so he assumed she was trying to get an answer from Ryuji now. He could see the wheels turning in the boy's brain, trying to find an answer to help them, and just before he stepped in, Ryuji seemingly found his answer. "Ohhhh… I see, I getcha. You're all buddy-buddy with Kamoshida, after all. I saw you get into his car Monday. Y'know, It's real easy to see what kinda person you are."

Oof. Not that tactful, but that wasn't Ryuji's area of expertise. Even though his frustration with the girl, he felt a bit bad for her, since he'd already heard all the rumors about her and didn't believe them, but yet another person perpetuating them, and to her face, couldn't feel that good.

"This has nothing to do with you, Sakamoto!" Her voice slightly cracked, her cheeks were bright red, and there was clear hurt and pain in her eyes. Yeah, his buddy may have gone a bit far with that one…

"I mean, if you knew what he was doing behind your back, you'd dump him right away." She looked confused at that, and glanced between him and Ryuji, trying to piece together what he'd told her earlier, and what Ryuji had let slip then.

"What… what do you mean?" Ryuji made to answer, before glancing at him for permission. He shook his head. As good as it might feel to tell her, there was still no solid proof.

Instead, he answered by scuffing his shoes in the ground and looking away. "You wouldn't get it…"

"Just explain it!"

"I ain't got the time! Can't you get out of our faces? Don't you gotta go meet up with your favorite teacher somewhere and have some fun behind closed doors?"

"I already get enough shit from all the guys in this school who think with their dicks instead of their brains, so how about you go fuck off!"

"Well—!"

"Both of you, shut it!" He glared at the both of them, each of them wearing an angry blush, and glaring at each other. "Ryuji, you need to calm down. You already know that some rumors aren't true, so just take a step back."

"I— right, yeah. Sorry, bro…" Ryuji took a deep breath and turned away, crossing his arms, and he turned to Takamaki-san, who was now glaring at him.

"And you, you don't know the full story, and this whole shitfest has put us all in a bad mood. We can talk some other time, and I'll explain some of it, but right now, I'm done. We're doing this to help the volleyball team, and we don't care about the consequences to us because we're helping people. Thanks for trying to warn us away from it, but we aren't stopping. Come on, Ryu." He walked away, fast at first, before slowing down for Ryuji's sake.

Takamaki-san didn't try to follow them, and when he looked back, she was looking down in frustration.

* * *

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Ryuji•

_4/14, Thursday_

"God, this is bullshit!"

"So I'm assuming that means you didn't find anything." He just sighed and nodded at Akira's words, running his hand through his hair. He'd tried talking to some more volleyball players after speaking with Mishima the previous day, but they'd all said the same thing the blue-haired boy had, everyone knew about the abuse already, even their parents, but they tolerated it for even the chance to get a scholarship or something stupid like that for a good college or some shit.

"Nope… Damnit, at this rate we'll have to go to him directly!"

"Probably should have started with that," his friend sighed.

"Probably… But seriously, isn't there _something _we can do?"

Akira adjusted his glasses and seemed to be thinking, so he stayed silent and watched. Out of the two of them, the raven-haired boy was definitely the more intelligent of the two. "How about… we punish the king?"

"Punish the king? What—" his eyes widened, "Ooh! Oh shit, I forgot about that!"

"You forgot about a whole other world where you can summon a literal skeleton pirate?"

"Oh shaddup!" He shook his head. "But… would that even do anything? Could we threaten that person in the other world and have it cross over or something?"

Before Akira could answer, another voice interrupted them. "I finally found you."

"Uh, did you hear that? It sounded kinda familiar…"

He noticed a cat wander over and raised an eyebrow. A cat? Did somebody try and sneak their pet into the school? It hopped up onto the table and flicked its tail, looking at them with a weirdly upset expression. Suddenly, against all known laws of logic, or at least the ones Ryuji knew, it spoke. "Don't think you can get away with not paying me back for helping you."

"T-that voice… is that you, Morgana?!"

"How dare you, up and leaving me the other day!" Yep, that condescending attitude? Definitely Morgana. But there was still something odd.

"The cat's talking?!" He was a cat, no longer that odd creature that simply looked like one but wore clothes and walked on two legs. Now he looked like a normal black cat with a white tail and paws, blue eyes, and a yellow collar.

"I am _not _a cat! This is just what happened when I came to this world! It was a lot of trouble finding you two!"

"W-wait you came to our world?!" He suddenly gasped as a thought came to him. "Does that mean you've got a phone?!" Akira let out a 'snrk' sound, and Morgana simply tilted his head up and pawed at his ear.

"You don't need a phone when you're at my level. I did get pretty lost while making my escape though…"

"That aside, why can you talk?! You're a cat!"

"How should I know?!"

He turned to Akira, who was still staring at Morgana, and who hadn't said anything yet. "You hearing this too?"

He kept staring, before looking him dead in the eyes, and with a fully serious expression, simply said, "Meow."

"THIS ISN'T THE TIME TO BE JOKING AROUND!"

Akira just smirked at his outburst, while Morgana sighed. "Anyway, I heard that you two are having a bit of a rough time. Something about witnesses?"

While he growled at the condescending attitude, Akira nodded. "Nobody is speaking up. We can't pin Kamoshida for anything without evidence."

"Mwe heh heh! Well, I suppose I could tell you a thing or two about what you could do to Kamoshida in the Metaverse! In fact, you were pretty close just a minute ago, frizzy-hair!"

"I was? So we have to do something to his Shadow self, correct?"

"Yep! You're getting it almost as quickly as I would!"

"Gah, that condescending attitude! You're definitely Morgana!"

"Wha— you were still doubting me?!"

He winced as Morgana shouted, motioning at him. "Gah, hey! Quiet down!" He looked towards the walkway between the classroom and practice building and saw two teachers talking about finding a cat. Clearly, Morgana hadn't been as stealthy as he'd thought he was. However, one of their sentences stuck with him. "'Meow?' Wait, are we the only two who can understand you?"

"Looks like it."

"Ah, What the hell's goin' on?" He scratched his head, trying to wrap his head around everything. "Anyway, what you were talking about, is it for real? We can do something to that other version of him?"

"You're quite the skeptic for being an idiot." He felt his eye twitch and he began tapping his foot angrily at the cat's words.

"Man… Ugh, we should talk more, but this ain't the place for it…" He grabbed Morgana by the collar, causing the cat to yowl and flail around. "Here, stick it in your bag. Should be small enough to fit!"

"I don't want cat hair on my books, though…"

"Hey, I ain't sticking him in my bag."

"Lemme go! How dare you treat me like this?! And I'm _not _a cat!"

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Morgana•

He shook himself out as he jumped out of Akira's bag, managing to smooth out his frizzy fur. He may not be a cat, but as long as he was stuck in this form, might as well look as good as possible! In any case…

He turned and glared at the blond monkey, stamping a paw on the concrete roof. "Don't be so rough with me!"

"Enough of that!" Ryuji just glared back at him, before standing back and sticking his hands in his pockets. "You said you know how we can do something about Kamoshida, yeah?"

He grumbled, almost not telling the boys out of pettiness, before sighing. "It has to do with what Akira was talking about earlier. You'll need to attack his castle."

"But he didn't remember anything the previous times we assaulted the castle. What could we do that would change that?"

He flicked his tail at Akira's question, nodding. "That's the correct question. That castle is how Kamoshida views this school. He doesn't realize what happens in there, but it's deeply connected to the depths of his heart. Thus, if the castle disappears, it would naturally impact the real Kamoshida."

"I… don't get it…"

"I believe that I do, but how can we accomplish that? We can't exactly tear down his castle brick by brick, can we? And what would happen?"

"A Palace is a manifestation of a person's distorted desires. So, if that castle were to be no more…"

"His desires would disappear alongside it."

"Correct!"

Ryuji's face lit up, "Whoa, for real?! H-He'll just turn out good, just like that?!"

"Erasing a Palace is like… forcing somebody to have a change of heart. However, even though their desires have disappeared, their crimes remain."

"And so, he'll be crushed under the weight of his sins," Akira smirked, and he noted just how sharp the boy could be sometimes. And how devilish his features could make him look. "He'll confess through his own mouth of his own volition, and rot away in a cell."

"And," he made sure to add, "Since the Palace will no longer exist, he'll forget everything we did there as well."

"Wait, I thought… Kamoshida doesn't remember what happens in there anyway?"

"Correct, Ryuji, he doesn't remember fully. However, as it is still a deep part of his mind, vague feelings and inklings will remain. Not true evidence, but considering Kamoshida, he might use them as a reason to suspect us. With the Palace gone, even his subconscious mind won't recall us. Not only will we be able to take him down… there won't even be a trace of our involvement!"

"Aw man, that's amazing! You're one incredible cat!"

Before he could correct Ryuji on calling him a cat, Akira spoke up. "In any case, we have our weapons, Personas… I'd like to see If I can get us some medicine of some kind so you don't waste too much energy on healing us unless it's dire but other than that we seem to be ready. How do we take down a Palace?"

Morgana smirked, well, he smirked as well as a cat face could let him smirk, before answering. "We steal the Treasure held within."

"Uh, Treasure? Stealing?"

"I'll tell you more once you agree to go through with this… After all, it's my most valuable, secret plan, after all. If you want to help me out, I'll gladly teach you. What's your call?"

"Hey, our luck's running dry everywhere else… This is pretty much the last thing we can do," Ryuji sighed, nudging Akira. Akira, however, looked skeptical of something.

"I want to go back to something… We're stealing his desires, correct? Then what happens if we make a mistake? If we mess up?"

"That is something I was going to discuss with you… As I'm sure you're aware, desires aren't bad things, they can keep us alive. The desire to eat, sleep, fall in love… Desires are things everyone needs."

Ryuji swallowed, and Akira had a face of grim acceptance. "H-Hey, what are you saying…?"

"If all of someone's yearnings were to vanish… they would completely shut down. They could die without proper care…"

"They could die?!"

"Hey, would you let me finish first?! Aren't you determined enough to take him down even with those risks?!"

"No." Akira cut straight through their argument, but on Ryuji's side and not his. "We aren't going to kill Kamoshida."

"I told you, there's only a chance of it happening!"

"That's still a chance." Akira narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "I refuse to let Kamoshida get away with what he's done, but we aren't murderers. Listen… I'll think about it, but I make no promises. If there truly is no other way…" He trailed off and shrugged.

He sighed in response to the boy's words and flicked his tail. "Alright. I can't force your mind if that's the case." He turned and began slinking off, pausing to stare back as he flicked his tail. "But I'll be waiting for your answer."

And with that, he left the two boys to ponder their next course of action.

* * *

**Chapter done. It's the fourteenth, so the next chapter cometh. Man, because of the quarantine all the GameStops are closed so I can't get Royal. Lame. I'll probably look up some playthroughs soon depending on how much longer the quarantine goes on so I can start adding the Royal content to this story, but whatever.**

**In the next chapter will be a... scene. Yeah. I've M-Rated this story for a reason. Besides P5 already being M-Rated on its own, anyway. It's a scene that wasn't in the story originally, or at least, part of it wasn't, but I really want to get in how shitty Kamoshida is, so I went through with it. It'll probably be apparent what it is when the scene finally shows up. But I definitely felt disgusting writing it, which is probably a good thing considering Kamoshida's shittyness.**

**In any case, leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read. See y'all next time.**


	6. Chapter 6: What Broke the Camel's Back

**Quick warning: The end of Shiho's section might be disturbing to some readers due to a kind of cut off rape scene as it mentions some groping and penetration, I am not writing an extremely graphic rape scene because fuck that disgusting shit, and what I did write makes me feel disturbed and sick, but I do want to establish how much of a fucking disgusting piece of trash Kamoshida is. Skip to Akira's section after the line **"You… wanted to see me?" **if you want to avoid it. **

Chapter 6: What Broke the Camel's Back

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Sapphire•

"Anthony, my homeboy, my main squeeze, my home slice, my companion, my amigo, my buddy, my friend, my chum, my brother…"

"Alright, I was starting to get annoyed, but now I'm just interested to see how many more synonyms you can come up with for 'friend.'"

"That was it, can't come up with anything else."

"Oh." Anthony put down a slab of rock with Scarabian inscriptions on it and sighed. "Get to the point, I called you to the lab for a reason."

"Come on, we both know what I want."

"Sapphire… I'm not making you web-shooters."

"Goddamnit Anthony, come on! I'm basically already Spider-Man!"

"My intellect drops every time you visit me…"

He sat on the table which caused Anthony to glare at him irritably, while he continued. "Listen, just like Spider-Man, I have super strength, super agility, I can sense danger coming, I can climb walls if I jam my fingers into the bricks… all I need are web-shooters."

Anthony walked away and opened a filing cabinet, looking through several folders. "I'm not wasting time on making you web-shooters. I have another expedition into another opened Scarabian pyramid soon and have to focus on that. Besides, didn't Spider-Man naturally produce webbing?"

"No, that's just in the Raimi trilogy. And some comics. Anyway, point is, make me web-shooters! I can swing around in a suit that Willow sewed for me in New York or Fourside! Come on, I promise I won't fight crime or anything, I just want to swing around the city!"

"Of course she already sewed you a suit…" Anthony rested his face against the metal cabinet in frustration. "I've already told you no."

"Just think of it as a challenge! You'll have to figure out how to make a liquid that is elastic but stronger than steel and can be fired out as webs from small bracelets!"

Anthony paused at the thought, clearly thinking it over. He snickered, knowing the man for so long he knew that Anthony's weakness was a challenge. Eventually the blond shook his head, "Even if I wanted to try, I don't have the time as I said. Now, can we actually focus on why I wanted you to come here?"

"Alright, alright, get to it."

Anthony sat at his desk, typing at a computer. He leaned over his friend's shoulder and watched as his friend navigated several tabs, before groaning as a familiar website popped up. "Goddamnit, not this shit again."

The website looked like a news website, but it wasn't exactly. The website had begun cropping up about a year before, containing theories on PSI and old pictures of the Chosen Four. Of course, the first time Anthony had found the website he immediately looked into it. The IP address was nearly impossible to find, even for the genius, and once he did it changed within an instant.

"How many people have seen this?"

"Way too many."

"What the hell is even the purpose of this website existing?"

Anthony shook his head. "It's obscure enough that you couldn't find it unless you specifically searched for certain terms, but more people see it every time the website comes back up. Of course, you know the main reason." They both stared at the line at the bottom of the page.

It was a request, for anybody with knowledge of, or abilities similar to the ones on the website, to email the creator. "Have you tried tracking the email?"

"Sapphire, I'm twenty times smarter than you on my worst day, of course I did."

"You want to go? I'll kick your goddamn ass."

"Just like the IP, I can't track the email. The one time I even got close I only got a quick message back before it disappeared. 'Nice try, Genius of the Chosen Four.'"

He folded his arms as he eyed Anthony. "So. That means…"

"Exactly. Somehow, one of Giygas' minions managed to survive your Heart Bound attack, and is trying to locate more people with PSI potential."

"How though? And why? Heart Bound completely erases and purifies Corruption and evil, plus destroys whatever monster it hits."

"Yes, any monster… but remember, you held back when it came to humans and animals during that final attack, just destroying any monster it hit. Whoever this was already an asshole without Giygas' corrupting influence, so they likely have their own reasons for this. It might be revenge, but there could be other reasons."

"Well, they're determined, at least."

"I'm going to try tracking this person down, but as I said, I'm already busy. I might need your help with this." He sighed, and Anthony shot a look at him. "Sapph, you know-"

"I know this is important, but come on, Ant. Can't you get Noct or any of his warriors on this? With my job and the kids, I'm not involving myself in anything dangerous like this anymore. You know this."

"Listen, I get it. Akira, Moon, and Diamond don't know anything about Willow or your own abilities, but they'll find out eventually, and you're much more likely to die in a goddamn car accident than some battle with how powerful you are. Either someone in Onett lets it slip, or they develop their own PSI."

"Well, nobody's let anything slip since I specifically asked that they don't after Willow had Akira, and I said I don't want my kids to grow up either ostracized for their dad having weird powers or turn into egotistical bullies thinking that their dad is some kind of superhero, which I'm thankful didn't happen. Plus, since Akira hasn't developed any powers, Moon and Diamond probably won't either."

"Sapph, don't ignore part of the argument. Fighting is in your blood, don't tell me you don't still visit and have battles with Noct."

He looked away, folding his arms. "Yeah, but that's just… me and Noct. I still have the twins to raise, I can't risk my life fighting. I'm not supposed to be a fighter you know, not a berserker who loves to rush into a fight. I may have been born to kill Giygas as the Leader of the Chosen Four, but… You, me, Willow, Noct… we lost our childhoods. You were a genius at a boarding house, Noct was trained from the moment he could to be a fighter, and mine and Willow's were normal up until Giygas before we lost any semblance of normal childhoods. A normal kid isn't supposed to become a deadly fighter when they're barely a teen.

"Normal kids don't fight monsters that could kill them brutally, psychopaths that try to burn them alive, or their twisted inner selves. They don't have to journey across the world, through a nightmare jungle, scorching deserts, or the inside of a mindscape. They shouldn't be faced with the cold corpse of their parent and dog in their destroyed and burning town as giant robots and aliens nearly kill their sibling. They shouldn't still wake up in cold sweats years later. I want my kids to live a normal life. If that means never letting them know about my abilities or fighting again, then that's what I'll do."

Anthony was silent as he ranted, before smiling slightly. "Man. Our lives were fucked up, weren't they? Alright, I'll see if I can get Noct to help, don't worry about it. Hey, while you're here in Tokyo, why not go surprise Akira with a visit?"

"I would, and I want to, but he'd question why and how I'm here when the team has practice and a game coming up soon. Normal people can't travel so fast. I'll give him a call though."

"Hm. Well, after my expedition, I might as well stay here in Tokyo. If he needs a familiar face, he can come by the laboratory."

"Heh. Thanks, Ant."

"No problem. Say hello to Wils and the kids by the way."

"You got it."

Anthony smirked and leaned back. "Still can't believe you named one of the twins after that ass who bound us in an earth tentacle and attacked your mind with that dumb sword of his."

"Ant, it was mostly because she was born exactly at midnight during a full moon, and Moon is a good name for a girl. Besides, he did give an apology and try and help get me back up when Giygas killed me. If I never see him again due to how infinite the multiverse is, then that's something to thank him. I just hope Moon doesn't go through an emo phase because I gave her his name."

"She's the sweetest damn kid on the planet, a complete opposite from that emo version of you," Anthony snorted, "If she ever goes through an emo phase I'll eat my glasses. It's more likely her sister will."

"Maybe. Anyway, I'll leave you to your preparations. Don't forget about the web-shooters!"

"Yeah, yeah. _Maybe. _If I decide to make them I might let you know."

"Psh. See ya, Ant." He walked away and grabbed Casey from where the weapon lay against a wall. "Come on, Casey." He flexed his PSI, and within an instant was on the other side of the world.

"_Should I remind you after you wake up to call little Akira?" _His living weapon asked.

He shook his head at Casey's question, "I'll do it now. What time do you think his school gets out?"

"_Probably soon?"_

"Yeah, probably." He chuckled.

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Akira•

Akira scrolled through the messages on his phone as he got off the train, thinking on the words that the faux-blond had texted him. Ryuji was a stubborn bastard, in the best way of course, as even after all of their setbacks he was still trying to find a way to get dirt on Kamoshida, agreeing with him that risking Kamoshida's death was a bit too far. He jerked as his phone began ringing, before smiling when he saw his dad's name on the caller ID. He picked up, placing the phone against his ear. "Hey."

"Howdy," his father spoke, "just calling to check up. You're out of school by now, yeah?"

"Yeah, I'm heading back to Leblanc now, still figuring out the subways here."

"Heh, big cities are real chaotic, aren't they?"

He snorted, "Well, you've got more experience than me, don't you? All your ball games are in big cities."

"Yeah, and I had just as much trouble the first time I tried to use a subway. Nearly missed practice once." He laughed, grinning. "Oi, don't laugh, I got chewed out by the manager!"

"Sorry, sorry. Listen, I'm transferring to another train soon so I won't be able to talk once I'm underground. Trains are fucking packed here."

"Hey, watch the language."

"Oh please, you curse even more than me." He smirked even though his father couldn't see it.

"Jesus, if you think I curse much now, you don't even want to know how bad I was when I was younger."

"I'm sure," he snarked.

"Anyway, how are you doing there? Talking with anyone?"

"Well… I guess. I've been talking with someone in my grade, Ryuji, and met someone named Morgana."

"That's great, two people to help you get through the year! Any girls? Need tips on how-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there," he said as he blandly cut his dad off.

He heard him chuckle, "Well, you've got the Starr charm. I'm sure you can handle it."

"Ugh. I don't know whether I should be happy you have so much confidence in me or angsty."

"You're a teenager, your default emotions are angst and angst-filled sarcasm."

"Uh-huh. Anyway, got to go."

"Alright, ciao. Make sure to call your mother to say hello to her and the twins later!"

"I will, I've just been a bit busy, and my mind's preoccupied."

"Yeah, that's understandable. You know, Anthony has one of his labs in Tokyo. He's going on another expedition soon and I don't know when he'll be back, but once he is, you can always visit him if you ever need anything."

He pushed his way through some crowds and smiled. "Got it, I'll keep that in mind. Can you send Uncle Ant's lab's location to me? I can probably figure out which trains to take to get there."

"Yeah, no prob. Stay safe, Aki!"

"Love you, bye." He hung up and put his phone away as he climbed down the stairs of the station, his mind quickly wandering back to Morgana's words.

If it truly was the only way, they would be risking the life of a man. No matter the crime, he didn't think that anybody deserved death. He exited out into Station Square, frowning at the large number of people in front of him. Nowhere in Onett was ever this crowded. Even the arcades could never hold that many people in one room.

He shouldered his way through the crowd and held his bag close so that nobody could try and steal from him. Somebody shouting drew his ears, and he almost ignored it before he recognized the female voice. "Takamaki-san…?" He turned, trying to see where her voice came from and spotted her near the wall of the station, an angry expression on her face as she shouted into her phone.

She kept shouting before it transitioned to a shocked expression. "Wait, what…?! That isn't what you promised! And you call yourself a teacher?!" Was she talking to… Kamoshida? He kept pushing through the crowd, watching as she got angry again. "This has nothing to do with Shiho!" She suddenly faltered and leaned back against the wall as her skin got paler. "A-ah, wait… Shiho's starting position…"

She slid down the wall, tears appearing in her eyes. Sapphire frowned as he finally got through the crowd, but now he wasn't sure what to do. "Takamaki-san?"

Takamaki-san looked up with bloodshot eyes, and immediately stood up and backed away. "Starr-san?! What're you… wait, were you listening?!"

He raised an eyebrow and waved an arm at the crowds around them, several people pointedly not looking towards the scene. "Hard not to when you're shouting in public."

"Ah, I guess…" Takamaki-san wiped her tears away, looking away. "You didn't have to come over you know, it's-"

"Hey, you looked like you were in trouble." He shrugged and she looked at him with wide eyes. "Just because we had an argument doesn't mean I won't be concerned when I hear you yelling and going all pale as you did."

"Well, still…" she shook her head. "How much did you hear?"

"You were arguing with… a teacher, about Suzui-san?"

Takamaki-san's breath hitched, and she nodded. "Shiho- no, it's nothing. Don't worry about it." She turned away, but he spotted the tears welling up again before she could fully turn. "Nothing…"

"It doesn't look like nothing. Do you want to talk?" He stepped forward and tried to place a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she pulled away and he could see the tears that threatened to stream down her cheeks.

"I'm fine!" she turned and ran, and he grasped for her arm but missed. He watched her run down the stairs into the underground walkway, and he sighed. Sakura-san might be upset if he got back late, and this clearly was not something that involved him. When he had first come to Tokyo, he might have just left right there.

**Well, it seems that Sakura-san shalt be wondering where thou are.** His lips twitched into a smirk at Arsène's words. But he wouldn't now. He had Arsène, and partially Kamoshida's Shadow, to thank for pushing him to change. He shouldered his bag and ran towards the stairs, sliding down the railing after her.

"Takamaki-san, wait!"

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Ann•

She ran through the walkway underneath Shibuya, dodging slow-moving people on their phones or just loitering around. Why was she running…? Starr-san had offered his help, offered to listen to her, yet here she was, running away.

She choked back a sob and wiped her arm along her face, trying to clear her face. She came to a stop by a pillar, resting against it as a wave of exhaustion came over her. She leaned back against the pillar and let her head thump against it, dropping her bag to the ground. She sighed, trying to get her breathing under control.

She just needed to calm down. She closed her eyes and rested for a few moments before a presence in front of her caused her to open her eyes. And there he stood. Starr-san smiled awkwardly, hands in his pockets. "It might've been harder to find you if a blonde girl was hard to spot in Japan's underground walkways."

She tried to get angry, pull up some semblance of rage. "Stop following me! Just… just leave me alone!" Her words felt hollow, no true anger tinting them, and Starr-san saw through her facade.

"Takamaki-san… I'm sorry for earlier today. But, right now… I don't know if you think of me as a friend or just another student, but please, tell me… are you okay?"

She opened her mouth to tell him off, yell at him to leave her, but it just wouldn't come out. "Why…? Why do you keep worrying about me?" She tried to hit him, but he didn't block and her fist just ended up weakly slapping against his chest. He smiled down at her and she tried to find any deceit or lies, just compassion, and the dam broke, tears finally flowing freely as he calmly took her hand in his.

"Come on, let's go somewhere safe."

"What the heck… I really don't get you." Starr-san just smiled and grabbed her bag for her and she let him lead her out of the walkway, up onto Shibuya's Central Street.

"Is there anywhere nearby we can talk privately?"

"There's a Big Bang Burger down some ways, we can probably get a booth." She nodded in the direction it was, and Starr-san hummed as he pulled her along.

He began talking quietly about random topics to distract her. "We don't have any Big Bang Burgers in Onett, it's a pretty small town. Only one diner where everyone eats. We do have a Mach Pizza though, they actually started their chain in Onett. They're pretty useful for late-night study sessions when you need a pick-me-up. Though if I woke up my sisters I had to bribe them with pizza so that they wouldn't tell my parents I was up so late."

When they reached their destination Starr-san pointed her towards a booth and handed back her bag before walking towards the counter. She quietly sat down in the hidden corner booth and watched as Starr-san got two cups of water for them before sitting down on the opposite side of the table from her. "I didn't know if you wanted anything to eat, so I just got you some water."

"Thanks." They sat in silence for a few minutes, Starr-san sipping at his drink but never taking his eyes from her. Eventually, the silence became too much for her. "I don't have anything to talk about with you by the way."

"Just my luck," Starr-san rolled his eyes. "I buy a girl water and she refuses to talk to me. The Nice Guy forums told me this would work. What a lousy first date."

"W-W-Wait," She blushed and slammed her hands on the table. "Who said this was a date?! I never agreed to anything!"

"Duh," Starr-san smiled. "But, it looks like I got you to start talking with me, didn't I?" She blinked, before groaning and burying her head in her hands. "I'm fine with waiting as long as it takes, if you want to leave, then go ahead and do so. But I think talking will help."

After saying so, Starr-san stayed silent, letting her think. Eventually, she looked up. "Listen, it was just an argument. Not… everything is fine."

"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself more than you are trying to convince me." She looked away. "Alright, fine, it was just a small argument. But with Kamoshida."

She bit her lip, trying to come up with a retort, before sighing and nodding. "Yeah, an argument with… Kamoshida."

Starr-san folded his arms and stared at her, eyes glinting behind his glasses. "Takamaki-san. If you truly don't want to talk, then I'll leave right now and respect that. But I don't think you want me to leave. I think you're confused and scared, and you want help."

She stared back, before nodding. He was right, of course, but… She breathed out. "You've… heard the rumors, haven't you? About Kamoshida, and how we're… getting it on."

"I've heard some things." His gaze stayed neutral, not judging her at all even as she said things that many at Shujin ostracized her for, not even caring if they were true or false. She looked down and began playing with her napkin, not wanting to meet his eyes, just in case he did start.

"Well, all those things… none of them are true! That… that was him on the other line. I managed to avoid giving him my number for so long, but he still managed to get a hold of it somehow." She took a moment to try and compose herself mentally, before continuing. "He told me to go to his place, and I'm sure you can guess what he wanted to do there…"

She heard Starr-san growl under his breath, but he cleared his throat and motioned for her to continue. "Don't stop. Is talking helping?"

It was… She stopped playing with the napkin, instead gripping it hard and tearing it slightly. "The thing is… If I turn him down, he said he'd take my friend off as a regular on the team." As she talked, the words came to her easier and easier, and soon she was spilling all of her emotions in front of this boy she barely knew. "I've been telling myself this is all for Shiho's sake, but I can't take it anymore. I've had enough of this… I hate him! But… but Shiho's still my best friend! She's all I have left at that sorry excuse of a school! Tell me… what should I do…?"

Starr-san grimaced as she looked to him with a tear-stricken expression, and he opened his mouth, before closing it with a click of his teeth. He looked frustrated, angry, but none of it seemed to be directed at her. "I… I don't know. I'm sorry."

She hiccuped, wiping some tears away, and tried to force a smile. It wasn't Starr-san's fault. In fact, he'd tried to help her, and talking about it had helped slightly, even if she still wasn't sure what to do. "Sorry. I shouldn't have asked. It's not your problem." She managed to get herself under control and let out a weak chuckle after another hiccup. "What am I even saying…? We've barely even spoken before."

Starr-san smiled kindly and tapped the table. "Maybe we should talk more, then. I'd be happy to help take your mind off of all of this in the future if you ever need it." She looked at him with wide eyes, before a true smile that mirrored his pulled at the corners of her lips. "Having someone to confide in can always help since you can tell them things that you can't anyone else.

"You're so weird. Usually, everyone just ignores me." She laughed and shook her head. "The rumors about me aren't true… but what about you? You don't exactly seem like a delinquent to me." She smiled as she teased him, and it was so nice to be able to joke with someone that wasn't Shiho, no matter how much she loved her friend.

"Oh please. I'm bad to the bone, baby," Starr-san smirked and flipped his hair dramatically as he adjusted his glasses.

"Pfft-" She giggled and held a hand to her face, causing Starr-san's smirk to turn more genuine. "Alright, I guess I'll take your word on that then. I had a feeling they were all exaggerations, but if you say so." They both laughed, and she smiled down at her water. "In all seriousness… I never really believed them. You always looked so lonely, like you had nowhere to belong…"

"I felt like that for a little while. Then I made friends with Ryu. Er, Sakamoto-san. He's a really good guy. Turns out having someone to talk to can really help." He looked her in the eyes and she smiled, nodding at his words, understanding the underlying message.

They sat in silence for a moment, before she frowned and sighed. "Is there really no way for me to help Shiho? I wish he would just… change his mind or something. Forget all about me, and Shiho, and everything." She scoffed and sat back in the booth, looking at Starr-san with a sad half-smile. "As if something like that could ever happen."

Starr-san stayed smiling like he had been, but she could see something in his eyes. Uncertainty? Guilt? She wasn't sure. Starr-san suddenly chuckled, shrugging. "Yeah. That'd be way too convenient. Something like that would only happen in some kind of story."

"I wasn't asking for a serious response," she rolled her eyes. "But thanks. I do feel a bit better. I'm gonna head home now." She grabbed her bag and the water, standing up. "Don't tell anyone what I told you, okay?"

"Got it. I'll be your favorite confidant." Starr-san smiled and raised his drink at her to wave her off.

"That'll take some work. We've only known each other for so long."

"Damn, foiled again," Starr-san shrugged.

She smiled, before sighing. "For now, I'll try and find some way to persuade Kamoshida."

"Need any help with that?" Starr-san's smile dropped fully, and she could see the worry on his face. Unknown to her of course, Akira's mind kept flashing back to Morgana's words ever since she brought up Kamoshida changing his mind. He had gotten less and less apprehensive about it as he heard her story, and if it was the only way…

"No, I don't want you getting into any more trouble. Or Sakamoto-san either." This was her problem.. But it did prove how tenacious he was to keep trying to help. "Well… thanks." She walked out and smiled at the thought of being able to talk with Starr-san again. Maybe with another acquaintance, Shujin wouldn't be so bad. Or maybe, a friend? Yeah, another friend, alongside Shiho.

Maybe she could look forward to the rest of the year at Shujin…

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Shiho•

Shiho absently found herself walking out of Shujin that afternoon, the light in her eyes dark and devoid of hope. Everything seemed so… She struggled to find the word. Pointless? Useless? The bruises on her face stung, and it seemed like each and every day was worse than the last. Even Ann wasn't able to help anywhere near as much as she used to.

"Suzui-san…" The weak voice calling to her made her stop and turn, and she saw Mishima-san slinking up, his gait slow from the bruises beneath his clothes. The ones on his face seemed worse, several dark marks under his eyes and a bandage covering a scrape on his cheek. One of his eyes was shining, the beginnings of a black eye forming.

"Mishima-san? Is there… something you need?"

"Are you… um, leaving?"

Her mouth became dry and a pit formed in her stomach. She prayed that he wasn't going to say what she thought he'd say, but… "What is it…?"

Mishima struggled to speak for a moment, the emotions in his eyes warring between fear and determination, before fear won out. He looked away, a scowl on his face at his own cowardice. "Kamoshida-sensei's asking for you. He's in the PE Faculty Office."

Her heart thudded in her chest. "What did he say?"

"...I don't know. Well… I have to go." Mishima turned around, shame radiating from him as he ran. She watched him go, her heart sinking to match her stomach. Her body shivered and felt cold. She felt a vibration in her pocket and reached down, grasping her phone to see Ann calling her. Her finger shook as she held it over the 'accept' button, before she closed her eyes and let her arms droop, her phone silencing itself after a few more rings. She clenched it in her hands, before performing what felt like the walk to the chopping block.

The PE office was at the end of a hallway, with thick walls and a similar door that looked heavy to open. She hesitated to call it soundproof, but… could nobody hear what happened inside when the volleyball members were called there? She raised a fist, shaking for several seconds, before knocking on the door. "K-Kamoshida-sensei?"

The door opened a second later, but she dared not look the teacher in the face, afraid of what she might see. "Ah, Suzui-san." His voice sounded friendly and welcoming, but she knew that was simply a front. She could sense the underlying maliciousness and something more as he waved her into the room. "Come in."

"You… wanted to see me?"

"Yes, I did…" the lock clicking on the door sounded like a guillotine thumping down. She dared not turn to look at him, even as he placed his hands on her shoulders and began rubbing them, causing her skin to crawl and bile to rise up her throat. Was this going to be another 'special session', where he just beat her until he was satisfied? No, for some reason… for some reason, she had a feeling it would be infinitely worse.

Her heart was clenching and her breathing was getting heavy. Some lost instinct inside of her was begging her to run out of there and scream for help, but she was too cowardly to do so.

As much as it disgusted her, she begged whatever god there was that it would just be the normal beatings, but the 'Coach's' calm movements and voice told her it wouldn't be.

Kamoshida's hands began lowering, to the end of her shirt, before slipping them beneath to caress her skin. "I believe we might be talking for quite a while…"

"U-Uh, S-Sir!" She tried to stop his hands, but one wandered up her body beneath her clothes towards her chest, and the other slipped below her pants and underwear. Her heart hammered in disgust and fear as she began tearing up. "P-Please stop…"

The coach continued, the near-empty school and thick walls and door guaranteeing that no one would come to save her. As her clothes were fully removed and Kamoshida slipped out of his own, bending her over his desk and penetrating her against her will, Shiho began to cry fully. Her screams echoed through the room, drowned out by Kamoshida's grunts and laughter. None heard them. None cared.

She was alone.

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Akira•

_4/15, Friday_

Akira munched on a pocky stick quietly, trying not to attract attention to himself as Ushimaru-sensei went on and on about the separation of powers or something. Normally he would focus in his classes, but his mind was still stuck on his talk with Takamaki-san and his texts back and forth with Ryuji the previous night.

It was becoming harder to find faults with Morgana's plan to use Kamoshida's Palace against him, the sole niggling doubt being the chance of killing the teacher. Even Kamoshida didn't deserve to die, right? He was starting to be more okay with the possibility, and he didn't know what that said about him.

He sighed silently and slumped in his seat until something nudged him. He peeked an eye open and saw Morgana sitting in his desk poking at his stomach. "Have you made up your mind yet?"

"Fucking Christ!" He jumped in his seat in surprise, looking around to see if anyone had heard his whispered outburst, or seen the cat in his desk, but luckily his teacher was loud enough to drone over him.

**When did he appear in thy desk?!**

He glared down at the cat, mentally asking the same thing as Arsène and pushed him as far into his desk as he could go. Once he was sure no one would be able to see the cat, he hissed quietly at Morgana, eyes darting to his classmates again. "The hell are you doing in my desk?!"

"I didn't know where else to find you." Morgana licked his paw and smoothed down some puffed-up fur. "Anyway, have you decided on what you plan to do?"

"I'm not sure yet," he frowned. "I want to say… gah, this is just…"

**A moral quandary such as this can be difficult for those fully grown, and especially so for adolescents such as thou. **He smiled slightly at Arsène's comforting words, before turning back to Morgana.

Morgana sighed. "You'll have to make a decision eventually. This is the only way to get back at that guy, isn't it?"

"You might very well be correct, but still…" he absentmindedly drew another pocky stock from the box and munched on it, freezing when he realized that Ushimaru-sensei had stopped speaking and was looking around the room suspiciously.

"I swore that I could hear a cat meowing…" he swallowed hard and shoved Morgana even further back, causing the black cat to let out a quiet 'meow' of discomfort.

**Hide him, hide him!**

When Ushimaru-sensei finally stopped, he sighed in relief and glared at the cat. Morgana just shrugged as best he could while stuck inside a desk and with an animal's body, and he rolled his eyes back. His phone vibrated in his pocket, and after making sure no one would notice, he slipped it into his desk so he could type without being seen.

**Ryuji—** It's no use dude

**Ryuji—** I can't think of any other way

**You—** I can't either. Should we go through with Morgana's plan of using the Palace?

**Ryuji—** Ugh that damn furball

**Ryuji—** bet he's gonna act all smug n shit 2

Morgana flicked his tail in annoyance at the nickname. "If only he knew I was reading this too…"

He began writing a response text but in the end couldn't finish, as somebody shouting on the other side of the room drew his attention. "Hey, what's that?!" He raised an eyebrow as the boy stared out the window of the classroom, more impressed than anything else that the boy had the balls to shout with Ushimaru-sensei still talking.

"Enough," the teacher gruffly yelled, "this is a classroom! Sit down!"

Another student, this one a girl suddenly spoke up, panic in her voice. "Wait… she's going to jump!" His haze snapped to the girl, and he stood up, chair scraping back. Jump? He suddenly had a very bad feeling in his gut.

As the students began whispering in panicked tones, he saw Mishima-san stand up, horror etched onto his face. "Suzui…?"

Upon hearing Mishima-san, Takamaki-san, who had already been looking on in concern, snapped upright, surprise clear in her actions and stance. "Shiho…?"

The teacher began trying to get the class back under control, but Takamaki-san completely ignored him and raced out of the room. He cursed and shot after her, leaving his bag in the room. "Takamaki-san, wait!"

He got there just in time to see Takamaki-san holding her hands to her mouth in horror as Shiho fell from the opposite building's rooftop. He watched as well with wide-eyes as the girl fell from the four-story roof, almost in slow-motion. People started screaming. Takamaki-san already had been. "NO!"

With a crack loud enough that it seemed booming to even them on the second floor, Shiho slammed into the ground.

* * *

**For everyone who hasn't played P5, Shiho's scene stops with her hanging up the phone on Ann. Now, thinking back I can't recall if the word 'rape' was ever actually used with what Kamoshida did to Shiho Suzui. I know Ryuji calls him a quote 'Sexually harassing D-bag' unquote during his Shadow's boss fight, but I think it's pretty obvious that's what happened. I always found it weird that an M-rated game won't use the word rape.**

**Well, I guess this is the first chapter that really shows why this story is M-rated. I'm not going to really try and hold back on writing the scumbags that appear in this story. Kamoshida is really the only one that does the no-no out of the main villains, so he is a certain sin for a reason. I use Fanfiction to get better at writing, and Kamoshida was good practice for villain writing, but now I can't wait to get to the Calling Card and stealing the Treasure.**

**If Shiho's section felt disconnected from the others, that's what I was aiming for. She's despairing, she feels completely isolated and alone, she thinks that not even Ann can help her. Whereas Ann's section has her learning that there are people willing to help her and listen so it becomes more hopeful, Sapphire's section has a conversation between two lifelong friends and is much more lighthearted, even with the discussion of a mysterious enemy… **

**Also, since I don't have Royal yet due to Quarantine and I know that they've added the Grappling Hook from smash, I looked up some Royal footage to see exactly how and when Joker and the Thieves get the tool, and I am… underwhelmed. You find some wreckage you can't get over, so Morgana just gives you this wire attached to your wrist that flings out and pulls you up. Now, nothing wrong with that in itself, but that doesn't explain how all the other thieves somehow teleport up behind you, lmao. I know it's a game, but whatever. At least it **_**kind**_ **of makes sense since Morgana is the toolmaker so he'd make them, but for an advanced device like a grappling hook, I don't think Morgana could make it just like that. And so, the Genius of the Chosen Four… **

**I realized a while back I could make a joke about Sapphire being like Spider-man since superstrength, agility, spider-sense (his danger sense), wall-crawling (if he jabs his hands through walls), are technically things he has too, so a joke about having Anthony make him web-shooters naturally evolved when I realized I wanted to make another way for the Thieves to gain grappling hooks.**

**Whatever, long Author's Note is long, TL;DR, Kamoshida bad, writing villains fun and good practice, Sapphire plus Spider-man joke equals grappling hooks. Leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read. **


	7. Chapter 7: New Possibilities

Chapter 7: New Possibilities

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Akira•

Ryuji ran up to him, his own class also watching through the windows. "Hey, what the hell's goin' on?!"

"We need to get to the courtyard!" Takamaki-san had seemingly already realized that, since in the few seconds he had turned to face Ryuji, she had fled towards the stairs. Ryuji nodded and ran as best as he could after him, refusing to let his lame leg slow them down.

He gripped the railing as Ryuji trailed him, jumping down the last flight and finding a massive crowd already bunching up and blocking the entrance to the courtyard. "MOVE!" He roared out the word and watched the students immediately back away, not wanting to anger the 'troubled delinquent.' And with Ryuji backing him up, he probably seemed even more punk-like. His reputation might suffer more for that later, but right now he didn't give a shit.

He shoved through the opening in the crowd, Ryuji close behind, and managed to reach the courtyard to see the students crowding around the unconscious girl as paramedics loaded her onto a stretcher. It seemed that someone had the foresight to actually call an ambulance the second they'd seen the girl on top of the roof, but the rest of the students around him currently…

He felt a wave of deep anger and hatred well up in his gut, almost as strongly as when Arsène had emerged from him. Everyone had their phones out and were attempting to get recordings or pictures of the girl, especially her bleeding, mangled legs. "The hell is wrong with these people?!" Ryuji spat, looking around with similar fury.

"We need someone to go with her," a paramedic spoke up, "are there any teachers around?!"

"I-I'm not in charge of her class though…"

"We should leave this to Principal Kobayakawa…"

These teachers…

**No, they do not even deserve to be called as such. **Disgust welled up alongside his other emotions as he agreed with Arsène's words, and he shoved his way to the front of the crowd, only to witness Takamaki-san racing forward. "I'll go!" He broke through and saw her on her knees, holding Suzui-san's hand.

Suzui-san whispered something to her, and Takamaki's face transformed into shock. "Kamoshida?" He didn't pay attention. The paramedics shouted at him to stay back, but he ignored them in favor of kneeling next to the girl. Even under the sheets, he could see her legs twisting at odd angles, bone protruding here and there. He wasn't sure why he was kneeling there. Did he want to comfort Suzui-san? Takamaki-san?

No, no, there had to be some way he could help… he had these powers, but they all seemed designed to destroy. He had nothing like Morgana's Dia spell, whether it was his psychic abilities or Arsène's powers. He wielded Rebellion, while Arsène's powers were geared towards curses. But he had to try, damnit…

He placed a hand on Suzui-san's shoulder, not wanting to agitate her legs further if he failed, even as the paramedics reached down to pull him away. '_Please, please, work…' _he didn't care if people found out about his powers right now. All he cared about was helping this girl.

For a brief moment, nothing happened. He forced himself, reaching in, searching for something. To bring out his damaging attack he said Rebellion, but he didn't know what to say to heal… could he even heal? He dug, scraping his mind for energy, and he did feel it, roiling beneath the surface, but not in a useful form. He felt as it prepared itself, but it was in a damaging form, it wouldn't heal.

But it was his! It would bow to his will if it was the last thing it would do! He _commanded _it to come forward in a healing form, and there was a sudden rush through his very core. Golden light sputtered weakly in his palm, and even though he didn't care if people saw it, it was still thankfully hidden by his body. Takamaki-san, however, was on the opposite side of him and watched with wide eyes as the light trailed into Suzui-san, flowing through her veins and down into her legs.

The light quickly sputtered out, but it was just in time as the paramedics pulled him away, and he watched as they lifted the girl into the ambulance, with Takamaki-san climbing in after her, looking back and forth between him and Suzui-san, alternating between a concerned gaze and a confused one.

Ryuji grabbed his shoulder, not having seen the light. "Man, that was effed up… the hell was that even about…?"

"I don't know… but I've got a real bad feeling." He narrowed his eyes as his fists clenched, mind darting to Kamoshida.

One of the panicking teachers waved his arms, trying to be heard above the crowd of students. "Return to your classrooms at once!"

However, as his eyes were drawn to the teacher's waving form, somebody behind the teacher sprinted away. His eyes followed them and caught a flash of dark-blue hair. Ryuji caught it as well, seeing how he narrowed his eyes. "Ain't Mishima acting a bit weird?"

"It could be a coincidence," he warned, even though his eyes were still locked onto the boy's form, "simply queasiness from seeing Suzui-san's broken form."

"I mean, maybe…" They nodded at each other, before giving chase. They managed to find and corner Mishima-san by some lockers, and his eyes widened once he spotted them. He tried to get away, but Ryuji gripped his hand hard and pulled him back. Mishima-san stumbled and winced, holding his hand while looking at them fearfully.

"That hurt!"

Ryuji didn't care, closing in and narrowing his eyes. "Why'd you run like that? Huh?!"

"I didn't run-"

Ryuji slammed the side of his fist into a locker to silence Mishima-san, glaring him into submission as he screamed in his face. "She jumped and tried to kill herself!"

Mishima-san stumbled back and held up his hands, accidentally knocking over a pile of stacked desks. "L-Leave me alone…"

"Mishima-san," he cut in, placing a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder and drawing his gaze. Though he was angry, he had to stay calm. Ryuji was overwhelming the boy, but he could use that and appeal to him. Mishima-san would listen and likely cooperate if he seemed nicer and more sympathetic than Ryuji. "Please. We don't think you did anything to her… but you know something."

"He's right! We ain't tryin' to get you busted, and we won't rat and say you said anything either!"

"Suzui-san…" Mishima-san stayed silent, and he quickly held a hand up before Ryuji could say anything out of impatience as Mishima-san continued to think. After a few moments, the dam broke and Mishima-san spoke. "She was called out by Kamoshida-sensei!"

Ryuji's eyes widened, and he took a step back. "Wait, what?!" The faux-blond questioned.

"I was called a number of times by him too… to the teacher's room. It wasn't just me or Suzui-san either. He'd nominate someone when he was in a bad mood… and hit them."

He felt a pit of worry form. "Mishima-san… when exactly did he ask for her?"

"Uh… I'm not sure, I know that it was a bit after practice though. Not everyone had gone home yet." So he didn't have an exact time, but it was probably triggered by Takamaki-san rejecting him over the phone. And from what she told him, and what Kamoshida had been asking for… "A-And it was weird because he called her out of the blue. She didn't make any mistakes or anything… He seemed really irritated all throughout practice, so she probably got it… worse than usual."

His mouth went dry. He hoped from the bottom of his heart that Kamoshida hadn't done what he thought he did, because if he did… He was suddenly shoved aside, and he saw Ryuji running as best he could towards the stairs. "Damnit!" He sprinted after him, following his friend up onto the second floor, turning the corner around the stairwell to see Ryuji slamming the door to the PE Faculty office open.

He got to it before it fully closed, and the first thing that greeted his ears was Ryuji roaring at Kamoshida. "You bastard! The hell did you do to that girl?!"

"What are you talking about?" the man scoffed, not even looking up from some paperwork on his desk.

Ryuji slammed his foot into a chair, sending it sailing across the room and crashing into the wall opposite him. "Don't play dumb with me, asshole!"

Kamoshida finally stopped working on whatever the papers on his desk were, turning to glare at them. "That is enough!"

He heard a whisper behind him and turned to see that Mishima-san had followed them. He was clenching his fists, but he looked up and glared at Kamoshida, a surprising amount of defiance in his gaze. "What you did… wasn't coaching!" Ryuji turned to him with some surprise at Mishima-san's backbone, and even Kamoshida seemed shocked at the meager boy's words before that turned into anger.

"What did you say…?"

Mishima-san kept talking, "You… you ordered me to call Suzui-san here… I can only imagine what you did to her! Something worse than just the beatings!"

Kamoshida got out of his chair, causing Mishima-san to take a fearful step back, but he and Ryuji moved side-by-side to defend the blue-haired boy and glared at the coach. "You're going on and on about things you have no proof about… Basically, you're just making these claims because you can't be a regular on the team, right?"

"That's not what this is about!" Mishima-san yelled, angry tears forming in his eyes.

"Volleyball this and that… that's all that matters to you, isn't it?" He questioned, his words tainted and spat like poison. "You disgust me, you rotten fuck!"

"Even if it is exactly how you imagine it to be, hypothetically of course… what can you do?" Kamoshida leaned forward, and a sick smile grew across the man's face. "We just received a call from the hospital. Suzui's in a coma, and her chances of recovery are slim… How would someone like that make a statement?" They all gave gasped at the news, and Kamoshida dramatically lifted his hand to the back of his head. "There's no chance of her getting better, I hear… oh, the poor girl."

As Mishima-san murmured to himself in shock, he felt his rage and disgust grow to new heights. This utter bastard didn't even give a shit that he might've caused the death of a girl. In his clenched hands, dark energy started forming as he began to lose control. What could they do? He could think of one thing. Kamoshida's death couldn't possibly be linked back to them if there was no trace of the man left, could it? The rage that peaked within him whispered to him, and the energy surging through him was visible in his veins, though thankfully Kamoshida's attention was on a yelling Ryuji.

**This power is thine to wield, however thou wishes. Unleash thy rage if thou so choose, dispose of this monster that disguises itself as a human… **

He listened to Arsène's words, and almost did as he said. For a brief, brief moment, PSI formed within his palms, before his eyes spotted Ryuji's fist flying upwards towards the teacher as if in slow-motion. He wasn't sure if he would ever later regret killing Kamoshida, or if he would care if he was caught, but he didn't want his friend to suffer for his actions. Or Mishima-san, for that matter. The destructive energy in his hand vanished and he shot his hand out, stopping Ryuji right before his fist would have crashed into Kamoshida's face.

Everyone looked surprised and Ryuji quickly pulled away, glaring at him. "Dude, what the hell?!"

"Don't let him get to you."

"But…!"

Kamoshida watched with interest, eyebrows raised. "You're stopping him? What a surprise! There's no need to hold back, come on, attack me!" He then began laughing, crossing his arms. "Oooh, but you can't! Of course you can't."

"Listen here, you malignant tumor," he growled. "The only fucking reason I don't kill you where you stand is simply that I don't want Ryuji or Mishma-san in trouble. If it were just me… You would be a red stain across that wall." The room almost seemed to darken alongside his words, and Ryuji, Mishima-san, and Kamoshida all felt a sudden wave of malicious intent. They could all tell… He was telling the truth. Kamoshida was truly lucky that the two students were in the room alongside the silver-eyed boy.

Kamoshida took a shaky step back before masking it with a scoff and turning away, even as sweat dripped down the back of his neck. How dare this brat...! He wanted to threaten him? He'd show him just how little power he held, then. "Everyone present right now will be expelled. I'm reporting all of you at the next board meeting." As Kamoshida sat down at his desk, Akira felt his rage slip away and turn into shock. Ryuji took a step back and Mishima-san gasped.

"Wha-"

Mishima-san stepped forward as Ryuji tried to formulate a response, glaring at the teacher. "You can't make a decision like that!"

"Who would seriously consider what scum like you say?" Kamoshida turned in his chair to scoff at them. "You threatened me too, Mishima, so you're just as responsible."

"H-Huh…?"

"To think you didn't know why I kept someone as talentless as you on the team. You act like you're a victim, but you're the one that leaked all his criminal records, didn't you? It's all over the internet, isn't it? How terrible."

He and Ryuji turned to Mishima-san as Kamoshida snickered, and they saw Mishima-san look down in fear and shame. "Mishima…?" Ryuji questioned.

The boy fell to his knees as tears ran silently down his face. "He told me I had to do it, I had no choice…"

Kamoshida's snickers turned to outright laughter as he turned back towards his desk, waving his arm. "Now, are we done here? You're all expelled! You're done for; your futures are mine to take. Now get out of my sight."

"I can't believe this asshole's getting away with this!"

As Ryuji stewed, he simply knelt down and grabbed Mishima-san, lifting him up. "Don't worry, Ryu." Ryuji looked over in surprise at his sudden light-hearted tone and saw a dangerous glint in the boy's eyes. "He'll get what's coming to him."

Ryuji peered at him, confused, before his eyes shot to the black cat that had followed them into the room, and he grinned. "Oh, right, we have that!"

Kamoshida turned to them, suspicious. "Huh? Have you lost your minds?"

"Of course not, _Sensei," _he smirked sarcastically. "But I would watch my back for the next few days if I were you." With that, he led Mishima-san out of the room without waiting for a response. Ryuji and Morgana followed, and determination shone in their eyes.

Any inhibitions were gone.

It was time to punish the King.

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

Ryuji pounded his fist against the side of a vending machine, causing the drinks inside to wobble. "We can't waste any time. We gotta hurry up and go to that world and beat the shit outta that asshole!"

"We aren't beating him up, we're just stealing his distorted desires," Morgana corrected, annoyed.

"I don't care which one we do," he interrupted, "as long as Kamoshida pays."

Ryuji, though still a bit shocked at the bloodlust emanating from the boy, could only nod along. Morgana nodded as well. "So then, I'll assume that you've both made up your minds about this, then? How he could completely shut down if we mess up?"

"...I have." Ryuji nodded after a moment, clenching a fist. "Someone almost died because of him! I don't give a rat's ass what happens to him anymore!"

"And you?"

"Let's do this." He didn't elaborate. They both heard his rant inside the PE office.

"Then it's settled."

"Oh, by the way… is stealing a Treasure hard? I mean, you've done it before, right?"

"When did I ever say that?"

As Ryuji stared at Morgana in shock, he thought to himself. They were all new at this then. Even if Morgana knew how to do it, if he'd never done it, he was still just as inexperienced. They would have to be cautious about this… he didn't know when the expulsion would take place, but just the fact that they were on a limited timetable filled him with anxiety. Still, there was a touch of excitement lurking beneath it, the thought of being able to go all out and release the emotions that he kept bottled up in the real world free through Arsène and the Shadows causing a grin to appear.

Arsène agreed with him, chuckling darkly within him. **Let us show that false king true agony… **

"Is it true that you're getting expelled?" He turned towards the now familiar voice and spied Takamaki-san standing in the entrance of the courtyard. "Everyone's talking about it…"

"You know, that's got to be some kind of record," he sighed, rolling his eyes. "I mean, Jesus, Kamoshida works fast."

After Ryuji scoffed, he glared at the blonde. "What, you come all this way to ask us that?"

"Ryu, calm down. You know it's not her fault." Ryuji sighed, nodding as he looked away.

"Sorry man, it's just—"

"I get it. I'm just as frustrated as you." He turned to Takamaki-san. "Anyway… how's Suzui-san?"

"She's…" the girl clenched her fists, before shaking her head. "The doctors don't know. She might pull through, but she might not…" she glared at them, but the anger in her eyes wasn't aimed at them. "But I'll assume that it's true then."

"Yeah. It's true."

"So… you're going after Kamoshida then?" He glanced at Ryuji, and the blond just shrugged back at him. "I want in." Their gazes shot back to the girl, and she stared at them with a mixture of determination and hatred. "I want in on whatever you're planning."

"No," he immediately shut down.

"Why not?!"

"Because it's dangerous." She opened her mouth to retort and he immediately cut her off. "Right now Kamoshida doesn't think you're involved with us at all, but if you do get involved, you'll be in just as much danger. I don't think Kamoshida would expel you, he's sick enough to keep you here for..." He didn't need to finish his sentence, they all knew what he meant.

Even still, she looked at him furiously. "That's my decision to make! It's my best friend that he-!" She cut herself off but clenched her fists.

"It's not your decision when it's us who came up with the plan."

"Then at least let me in on it!"

He glanced towards Morgana and Ryuji, before turning back. "Please, I may not know exactly how you're feeling, but this is too dangerous."

"Are you sure we should be explaining this much…?" Ryuji whispered.

"Takamaki-san, we're already too deep into this. You don't have to risk yourself. Let us handle it."

"But…" she glanced at his hand for several seconds, until she glanced back up and clenched her hands, taking a step forward. "I don't care how dangerous it is, Shiho—"

Ryuji finally had enough and also took a step forward, pointing at her. "He said no enough times, so that's it! Don't get in our way!"

She glared back before turning and leaving. He sighed and turned to Ryuji, "You know, that might've been a bit harsh."

"She's too stubborn," Ryuji sighed, "she wouldn't have listened. And that Palace is way too dangerous for her…"

"If she had a Persona it'd be different, but we can't risk her life to see if she even has potential. She probably does with how determined she is, but we can't risk it." He looked towards where she ran off to, before turning back to them with determination glinting in his silver eyes. "Let's go."

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Ann•

After waiting by the school's main entrance for a few minutes, she eventually saw the two boys exiting the courtyard and walking out of the building. They might not have wanted to involve her in whatever they had planned, but she absolutely would not fail Shiho. The hatred that she felt for Kamoshida coursed through her body like a poison, and she refused to let Starr-san or Sakamoto-san deny her the chance for revenge for Shiho.

She tailed the two boys towards an alleyway across from the school and hid by the entrance as the two boys talked inside the alley. "Phantom thieves?" Sakamoto-san was talking, facing away from her.

"Covertly sneaking and stylishly stealing? You know that we're doing this to take down Kamoshida, not for fun. Still, though, I suppose it does sound intriguing."

"Right?! So cool!" Sakamoto-san laughed, and Starr-san nodded as he grabbed his phone.

"Alright, I guess it's time. Let's take this asshole down." All of a sudden, a wave of dizziness washed over her. She stumbled back and held her head, closing her eyes as a migraine slammed into her.

She heard footsteps and gasped as she realized Sakamoto-san and Starr-san were leaving the alley, so she quickly hid around the corner. However, as she moved back, her jaw went slack as she saw the sky. The clouds in the sky were swirling around a castle that now stood where Shujin academy once was, and instead of white, gray, or black, they were shades of purple, with the sky beyond shades of red.

Her eyes darted to two individuals as they walked past, not recognizing them in the dark clothes they wore. She looked around but could see nobody else near them, whereas before there were dozens of students walking home. She swallowed, before refocusing on the two males. If they were the only ones around, they were probably the ones that brought her… to wherever this place was.

"H-Hey! What is this?!"

The two males turned to her in surprise, and she could see that they were wearing two masks, one was a metal skull, and the other wore a white domino mask. However, even with the masks, she could see the surprise in their… familiar eyes? "T-Takamaki?!"

He knew her? Wait… familiar hair, eyes, voice, didn't use an honorific… "Sakamoto-san?!" Now that she wasn't panicking, she could look closer and see all the signs. The boy had the same golden-blond spiky dyed hair, alongside the hunched posture. And if that was Sakamoto-san… The boy next to him… yeah, silver eyes, raven-hair… "And are you Starr-san?!" Both boys stuttered for a few seconds, clearly caught off guard by her arrival. "What are you guys wearing?!"

"W-Wh-Why are you here?!" Sakamoto-san seemingly began panicking, while Starr-san looked down at his outfit.

"Actually, I thought I looked pretty good. Sexy, even."

"Dude, that's not important!" Sakamoto-san punched him on the shoulder as she kept looking back and forth between them. But, Starr-san's joke had actually helped a small amount, his sarcasm grounding her slightly. And he actually was correct, their outfits did look interesting… as a model, she— Not the point!

"Hey, how should I know how I'm here?! What the hell's going on?! Where's the school?!" The boys watched her jump between sentences as she attempted to rationalize the world around her. Starr-san's joke may have grounded her slightly, but she was still completely out of her depth.

"This has gone completely off the rails," Starr-san sighed. "Did you follow us?"

"Of course I did! I wasn't just going to let you do whatever you're planning without me!"

"Ugh… just great." She ignored Sakamoto-san as she looked around, slowly calming down to observe the world around her. It looked like everything except for the school and the sky was completely normal, no… odd buildings or anything like the castle nearby.

"Morgana, could the app have pulled her in because she was nearby? Morgana!" She heard a whack noise, and what sounded like a cat yowling. "I don't care how… ugh, meow-velous she is, focus!"

A third person, apparently named Morgana, began speaking, but she couldn't see who it was. "Uh, yes, it's probably as you said… If the phone can pull in multiple people, it might have an area of effect around it, pulling in people nearby."

"For real…?" Sakamoto-san groaned.

"We need to be more careful then," Starr-san spoke up, spinning his phone on his finger expertly before slipping it into his trench coat's pocket. "I don't want to drag in anyone else by accident while we deal with Kamoshita. Maybe bringing her back to where we entered from will take her out of here?"

She wasn't sure exactly what they were talking about, but she turned and looked up at the massive castle that pierced the bizarre sky. "Wait… so THIS is related to Kamoshida?!" While she wasn't sure what the hell was going on, she could at least tell that much. Sakamoto-san stammered for a moment, while Starr-san watched him amused.

"Breath, Ryu."

Sakamoto-san glared at him, before swiveling to her. "Anyway, you've gotta leave!"

"No!"

As Sakamoto-san stomped forward and began to argue and shout back, she spotted some kind of… plush cat? Suddenly, it began speaking in an exasperated tone. "The Shadows are going to find us if you make a scene."

She stumbled back, pointing at the creature with a shaky hand. "No way! It talked?! O-Oh my god, is it some kind of monster cat?!" Starr-san shot a hand up to hide a snort, while the creature's ears fell and its large eyes looked at her sadly.

"M-Monster…?"

She hardened her expression and she attempted to glare them all into submission. "You better explain what's going on! I won't leave until you do!" The two boys and one monster looked at each other with varying levels of exasperation. Starr-san lifted a hand to his face and groaned as he rubbed his temples before she pointed at him. "This has to do with those powers you used on Shiho, doesn't it?!" Starr-san froze, and both Sakamoto-san and the monster looked at him in confusion.

"Takamaki-san, I'll explain everything later, but right now you have to leave."

"I already said I'm not leaving!"

"Then we're gonna have to force you." Sakamoto-san sighed, before nodding at Starr-san. "Akira, help me out." They both stepped forward and she took a wary step back before they each grabbed one of her arms and began dragging her back to the alley.

"Please do not resist," Starr-san cheekily spoke.

"Hey! Let go of me!" She thrashed around in their grasp, but for some reason, they seemed way too strong. "Let GO!" She managed to lift one leg and kick, but she hit the unfortunate target of between Starr-san's legs. He let out some sort of sound between a wheeze and whimper, eyes twitching behind his mask, and she winced in sympathy. She hadn't intended to hit him there, and she knew it was the most painful area for boys to be hit, but she kept struggling out of their grasp. Starr-san's grip hadn't weakened, but he was now hobbling along.

"I think I've lost all ability to have kids… the Starr line ends with me…"

"Holy shit, dude, you okay?" Sakamoto-san looked over to make sure he was okay, and for a brief moment, he let go of her arm. He swiftly tried to grab it again, but in her thrashing, he grabbed a different target. She blushed in embarrassment and anger, glaring at the boy who stood stock still.

"And just _where _are grabbing?!"

"S-Shit, sorry! I w-was just trying to grab your arm but then you moved and your chest was suddenly— T-That doesn't matter! Come on!" He grabbed her arm and looked away to hide a blush so large even his mask couldn't hide it, while Starr-san weakly laughed.

"Damn, dude, didn't know you were so forward…"

"Shut up!" both she and Sakamoto-san spoke simultaneously, while the weird cat thing just shook its head. They reached the alleyway, and Starr-san tried to keep hold of her arm with one of his own while grabbing his phone with the other. While they might have been freakishly strong from wherever the hell they were, he couldn't keep hold of her with one arm. She managed to rip her arm from his grasp just as he hit a button on his phone. She spun around to glare at them, but they suddenly weren't there.

Her eyes widened as she looked around, and saw the normal sky, Shujin Academy, and the students wandering around outside. "What…?"

Unknown to her, Akira sighed as Takamaki-san vanished from the Palace, and Ryuji groaned. "Aw man, that was way too much trouble…"

"I'm going to talk with her."

"What?! We just got rid of her! What if she hitches a ride back in on your app?!"

"Well I can't just leave her like that," he shrugged. "Be back in a moment." He tapped the button and vanished from the Palace.

From Takamaki's point of view, Starr-san suddenly faded into view starting from his head and melting down to his feet, only he was now without the odd clothing that he'd worn. "Alright, the hell was all that?! Are you going to answer me now?! What did you just do?!"

"I'd say magic, but only because Ryu thinks my outfit looks like a magician's for some damn reason." She glared and Starr-san sighed, combing a hand through his hair, staring at her solemnly. "Takamaki-san, I swear that I'll explain all of this when we finish inside that place. But we can't waste any time. I want to get this finished as soon as possible, just in case Kamoshida doesn't wait until the board meeting, and instead goes straight to Principal Kobayakawa."

"But why can't I come?!"

"I already told you, didn't I?" He stared at her and crossed his arms resolutely. "It's dangerous. We're risking our lives in there, and I don't think you understand the danger. The first time we stumbled inside that place, Ryuji nearly lost his life because of me being a coward. Then, Morgana and I were nearly killed. I'm willing to bet even more life-threatening situations will pop-up, and you can't help us."

"But-!"

"Can you do this?" Starr-san lifted his hand, and black, silver, and red energy burst to life, casting wavering shadows along the walls of the alleyway. She gaped at the sight, having seen the light twice before, but neither times had the light been as bright and powerful. "Because if you can't, then you can't help us."

"W-What is that?"

"I'm not sure myself." He sighed, lifting his hand and gazing at it while manipulating the light to float around his palm in small orbs of power. "Inside that place, Ryuji, Morgana and I can use a power known as Persona. I won't go into the specifics, but they give us the power to fight against the monsters that lurk inside that castle. This, though… I tried to do research because Morgana seemed to know nothing about it. I think it's some kind of psychic power, but there's no real proof to that. And that place is like… Kamoshida's mental state, and we're going to be changing it."

"Monsters? And that place is like… the inside of that asshole's head?"

"Essentially. It's why Ryu and I were late that first day, we'd stumbled inside on accident, and a whole thing happened that ended in us barely escaping. We kicked some major ass in the process though."

"Well, how did you get the Persona power or whatever? Maybe I can do it too!"

"Maybe you can. But we can't risk your life in doing so. If there were a safer way to try and bring out your power, trust me, then I would gladly help you do so and help you take down Kamoshida… But as it stands, it's too risky."

"And how can I trust you?" Starr-san blinked at her, and she crossed her arms, glaring at him. "How do I know you aren't just lying?"

"Well, for one, there's no reason for me to lie about this." Starr-san locked eyes with her, before lifting a hand and removing his glasses. She looked at him in confusion, and he smiled as he placed the glasses in his breast pocket. "Here, I'll tell you a secret. These glasses are fake. See, I have a really intense gaze… it's actually a bit frightening at times, from what I've heard. So, my mom bought them so that I could look less like a delinquent, and smarter, to hopefully get people to lower their guard around me. It doesn't really seem to have worked so far, but oh well."

She tried to formulate a response, and the boy just grinned as he slipped his glasses- _fake _glasses back on. "Congrats, you're the only person in Tokyo to know that. Is telling you a deep dark secret like that enough for you to trust me?"

"Not exactly a deep dark secret," She muttered, apparently loud enough for him to hear and chuckle at. "But…"

"Sorry, but I don't want to keep Morgana and Ryuji waiting. I'll explain it all in much more detail when we get out, but right now, we've got to do this… no matter the danger." He walked away and pressed a button on his phone, causing him to fade from view. She watched him go, vanishing back into… Kamoshida's mind, and clenched her fists.

It was out of her hands now, wasn't it… Could she try and go to Kamoshida, speak to him about not expelling them? No, he likely wouldn't listen to her anymore, and even if he did, what he might ask her to do… A disgusted shudder ran through her, and she leaned against the wall of the alley. So, it was all in Starr-san and Sakamoto-san's hands… god, they would be in for hell if they got out! She deserved more answers!

Her heart clenched when she realized she'd thought _if_, not _when_. He'd spoken of life-threatening danger… She didn't want them to die because of her, or Shiho… Wasn't there any way to help them, or stop them?

Inside her bag, her phone pinged as the Metaverse Navigator suddenly appeared.

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Akira•

After returning to the Metaverse and reuniting with Ryuji and Morgana, right away they questioned him on one of the things Takamaki-san had said. "What did she mean, when she said you used 'powers on Shiho?" Morgana questioned. "We can't use our Personas in the real world!"

"I was planning on telling you both if we were going back in, so I guess I'm glad we can get it out of the way now." He held up his hand and showed off the bright glow, causing Ryuji's eyes to bug out and Morgana to make a confused noise. "I tried looking stuff up about it, and even though there's no way to confirm, I think they could be psychic powers."

"Whoa, you're a psychic?!"

"Maybe. Morgana, you have any idea what this is?"

"No, I've never seen anything like it! I know there's a type of element Personas can use called Psy, but that isn't it! When did it first appear?"

"After Ryu awoke to Captain Kidd and we were escaping. As I was holding off the Shadows, I was running out of energy, and Arsène spoke to me. He told me I had some other kind of power, and after a moment I was able to use it. That's what blew up the entire hallway."

"I'd ask for you to demonstrate for us, but I don't want to alert the Shadows… if you really can use it in the real world, you'll have to show us later. For now, let's get moving, Joker!"

"Last I checked, I'm not a clown."

"Yeah, the heck's up with that nickname?"

"Ugh, don't call it something that… boring! They're codenames!"

"Codenames?"

"Yeah, we can't just shout out our real names in here. We have no idea what effect that might have on Kamoshida's Cognition." Morgana smirked and placed his paws on his hips. "I've decided that your codename shall be Joker, because you're our trump card when it comes to fighting strength! It makes even more sense with those psychic powers!"

"I mean… it's kind of lame, isn't it?"

Ryuji snickered and Morgana sighed. "Just go with it! Now then, what should your name be… ah, what about Thug?"

"Hell no! You trying to pick a fight?!" Ryuji growled and crossed his arms, his foot tapping on the ground impatiently. "I want it to be cool! Hm… well, maybe it should do with my mask and outfit…"

"Well, you have the pirate theme… Captain? No, we might confuse you with your Persona… Hey, what did your Persona say when you were Awakening?"

"Huh? Well, he talked about 'hoisting the flag and wreaking havoc…' Oh, he also said something about me wielding the 'Skull of Rebellion.'"

"Why not use that?" Morgana suggested. "Skull."

"Ohh, yeah! I like it! From now on, I'm Skull!" Ryuji, or Skull now, grinned at him. "So, what should Morgana's name be?"

"Hm…" He fingered at his mask and looked down at the cat. "Swashbuckler? No, way too long."

"Why not short and sweet? Mona."

"Ah, I get it. Because he's a thief and Mona is like the Mona Lisa, correct?"

Skull stood still for a moment, before nodding. "Sure!"

Morgana sighed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever. If Joker thinks it's a good name, then I'll be Mona from now on."

He nodded at his teammates, pulling out his handgun to check it over as he smirked. "From now on, we're Joker, Skull, and Mona. Ready to take down this bastard?"

"Eff yeah!"

"Ready, Joker!"

He smirked and put away his gun while pulling his glove tight. "Let's go!"

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

The hidden vent they'd used the previous infiltrations remained open, allowing them easy access to the castle. They crept along the hall, witnessing a massive crowd of guards in the main hall as Shadow Kamoshida spoke down to them, ordering them to find and kill them. He grimaced and nodded at Skull and Mona before they backtracked to find another route around. Skull complained slightly about not being able to just beat him up, but he and Mona simply explained how they wouldn't be able to fight through all his guards. Plus, finding his Treasure and making the man confess his sins would be more satisfying in the long run.

They made their way down the hallway, sneaking from cover to cover until they found another door. He silently opened it, spotting a Shadow knight standing vigil in the room. "There's a Shadow," he whispered.

"What should we do, Joker?" Skull questioned. "Take it down?"

"Actually, this might be a good time to teach you something," Mona purred. "Joker, ready?"

"Ready." He waited for the Shadow to turn its head, before sprinting forward. He leaped up onto a table and onto the Shadow's head, causing it to stumble in shock as he reached down and ripped its mask off. "Show me your true form!" He backflipped away as it crashed to the ground, turning into ooze before exploding up into the form of a fairy. As the fairy floated back, disoriented from the sudden attack, Morgana quickly explained.

"Remember Hold Ups and All-Out Attacks? There's another use for them. Because Shadows are beings born from people's hearts, they can talk and communicate with us! If we talk with them while they're cornered, they might offer us money or items in exchange for their lives!"

"I see…" the fairy finally recovered and glared at them, charging up and firing a Zio at them. Mona jumped back and Skull stepped in to take the electrical attack, as he resisted it while Mona was weak to it, and he quickly ripped off his mask to summon Arsène. "Arsène, Eiha!"

"**Hahahaha!" **The Curse attack flew forward as Arsène cackled and impacted with the Shadow, throwing her to the ground due to her weakness to the element. They quickly surrounded the girl and pulled out their guns, plus slingshot in Mona's case, pointing them at the girl. She looked around at them with fear in her eyes and held up her hands as she weakly fluttered a foot off the ground.

"H-Hey, don't get too hasty! Don't shoot!" She shivered and muttered to herself, "Seriously?! These guys are the intruders' King Kamoshida warned us about…?"

"Hell yeah we are!" Skull grinned, waving his shotgun with one hand.

"It can't get worse than this… What're you going to do with me?!"

"Absolutely nothing," he soothed with a charming smile as Arsène vanished and his mask reappeared. "As long as you have some money for us, of course."

"R-Really? You'll let me live if I give you some money?" She smiled before it dropped and she cringed back in fear. "W-Well, this all happened so suddenly… I actually don't have any money on me… I mean, I usually do though, you know?!"

"What? For real?"

Mona sighed, "Oh well, can't be helped. Guess it's time for you to go to hell."

He choked back a laugh at how casually Mona said that, while the fairy girl winced back. "W-Wait!"

"Sorry, can't be helped. We're in a hurry after all." He placed his finger on the trigger and got ready to pull.

"Can't we work something out?! Don't kill me, please! Won't you let me go?!" The leotard wearing Shadow's eyes were beginning to water, and her voice wavered.

He watched her plead for a moment, before he sighed, twirling his gun. Killing someone that was pleading for their life, even if it was a creature born from thought, brought a sour taste to his mouth. "Fine."

"Wha- really, Joker?"

"Yes. I'm fine with killing these things when they're trying to kill us, but if they start begging for their lives, then I'd rather let them go, even if they can't give us anything." He knelt down to the fairy girl the size of his hand and smiled. "You're free to go, as long as you don't try and attack us from behind."

"Really?" The fairy floated upwards and smiled at him. "Thank you, thank you so much! You're so kind… you know, you remind me a lot of myse-" She stopped in the middle of her sentence, a sudden understanding visible on her face. "I remember now! I don't belong to just King Kamoshida… I'm an existence that drifts about in the sea of humanity's souls… My real name is… 'Pixie!' From now on, I'll live inside your heart!"

The fairy, or Pixie, suddenly began glowing blue. She vanished inside of a sphere of light, before shooting forward into his mask. He stumbled back in surprise, hands flying up to his mask. What had just happened?

Morgana seemingly had the same question, looking at him with wide eyes. Well, his eyes were always large, but they simply got wider. "What did you just do?"

"Don't ask me," He murmured, feeling around.

"The enemy totally got sucked into your mask, Joker!" Skull pointed, clear confusion on his face.

"I didn't even know that was possible," Morgana exclaimed, "I don't-"

His eyes shot to a second doorway in the room, where another Shadow guard was wandering in. The guard noticed them and drew its sword before he tackled Skull out of its way. "Look out!" He drew his gun and fired, the bullet knocking the Shadow's mask into the air. It stumbled, before turning into one of the two-horned horses that were weak to Skull's and Captain Kidd's Zio spells.

"Skull, summon Captain Kidd and-" He stopped, stilling as he felt something within him… a new possibility.

_Hey, hey, let me have a turn!_ Pixie's bubbly voice spoke up from within him, a stark contrast to Arsène's smooth, deep tone. _I can take this guy down super quick!_

**I agree, she wields a spell I do not.**

He reached inside of himself instinctively and switched Personas, and when he ripped off his mask, instead of Arsène appearing in cerulean flames, it was Pixie. She giggled and fluttered around his body as she flipped her brown hair, landing on his head. Skull and Mona looked on in surprise, and he smirked. "Pixie, Zio!" The electricity shot out of the fairy's hands, causing the horse Shadow to whinny in pain before she disappeared and his mask returned. "Surround it!"

The horse stumbled to its feet—hooves? And glared at him. "You going to kill me then?" It spoke in a gruff tone, with broken Japanese. He thought back to what he'd done with Pixie, how he'd appealed to the girl, even if he didn't know it, and gotten her to remember that she wasn't just Kamoshida's servant. These beasts seemed more feral than Pixie, so instead of being kind, perhaps he needed to be more ruthless…

"I might. Depends on how I feel after talking with you."

"Hmph. Me no care for talking."

"Well you better start caring, or you'll find your life ended sooner than you'd think."

The horse snorted. "You remind me of me. Very tough and uncompromising…" its eyes widened, and it stood straighter. "Wait… me remember now… me not just servant… me an existence in humanity's unconscious!" The horse began glowing blue like Pixie did. "Me name is Bicorn! From now on, me serve you!"

"Perfect." Bicorn's form was absorbed into his mask, and he smirked as the new personality meshed seamlessly alongside Pixie and Arsène.

**Our strength shall grow with each new Persona… a job well done.**

"_Yeah! I bet I can help a ton, Mister Joker!"_

_Me shall be powerful aid. Use me to destroy, Master!_

"Holy…" Mona gasped as Pixie giggled and landed on his shoulder, waving at the cat. "You can use multiple Personas?!"

"H-Hey, Mona, what the hell did he just do?"

"He sealed the enemy's appearance and powers into his mask, and made it his new Persona… I didn't even know that was possible!"

Pixie wagged her legs from her seat on his shoulder in response to Mona's statement. "_Mister Joker is the coolest, right?"_

"Do you think it has something to do with my psychic powers?"

"I don't know! Only one heart exists per person, so normally a person can only have one Persona!" He focused and brought Pixie back within himself, before bringing Bicorn to the forefront. With a flick of his wrist and the removal of his mask, Bicorn burst into existence and they all looked at the horse in wonder. "But this is incredible! This'll give us a huge advantage in battle!"

"Yeah, I just hope they don't fill my head with too much chatter."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Arsène speaks to me inside the Metaverse and the real world a lot. He usually gives his own opinions on things, which I guess are really my opinions, but without me trying to hold back how I really feel. With even more Personas, that could get pretty distracting…"

"Your Persona speaks to you?" Mona blinked owlishly, "Zorro doesn't talk with me at all!"

"Yeah, Captain Kidd is pretty quiet too, the only time I've ever heard him talk was when I Awoke to him."

"So either this has to do with me being able to summon and hold multiple Personas… or my psychic abilities… Or both."

"Either way, having more Personas to cover our weaknesses is a good idea. You should grab as many as you can!"

"Yeah! We'll hold up every last Shadow in this place!"

"I sure do love mugging people."

"_Me will aid Master as best me can!"_

**His broken speech might just get a tad annoying soon, **Arsène sighed from within him.

_I dunno, I think it's pretty funny, Mister Arsène!_

Ignoring the voices in his head, he spoke up. "In any case, let's get back to the mission at hand." He smirked and recalled Bicorn, reforming his mask. "Let's steal a corrupted heart!"

* * *

**You know, I thought it was pretty obvious in the game that Joker's glasses were fake. Their description, the fact that you don't need to wear them in the Metaverse, and you don't wear them during the beginning of the game in your hometown and at the end of the game when you go home. And I've heard that in Royal you can visit a glasses shop with Ryuji and he comments on how your glasses are fake. But apparently, a lot of people didn't know that lol.**

**Anyway, Joker has now caught his first Pokemon- er, Personas. I think P5's method of gaining Personas (including Fusion) is my favorite. In P3 and 4 you just select a card after a battle, but in P5 you have to negotiate with Shadows, either being mean and serious, or joking and light-hearted, which fits with Joker's theme of wearing many masks when he interacts with different people. He can be a kind older brother figure to Shinya for the Tower Confidant, and immediately become a snarky asshole to Iwai for the Hanged Man Confidant.**

**Man, it can get real annoying adding a -san to the end of people's names... But I've got to keep it up, since it's just another way to characterize Akira and the others. Akira adds a 'san' or 'sensei' to the end of someone's name since that's courtesy in Japan and he's trying to lay low and be respectful even though he isn't used to it, but when it's someone he's friends with, like Ryuji, or an enemy, like Kamoshida, he doesn't bother. And then there's Ryuji who just doesn't care, and doesn't add honorifics to anyone's name.**

**Sorry this is a few days late btw, was kind of busy so I couldn't upload this on the 14th, but hey, it's here now. It's almost time for Panther and the beautiful Carmen to make their appearance! So, leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read! See y'all next time!**


	8. Chapter 8: The Graceful Dancer

Chapter 8: The Graceful Dancer

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Akira•

"Skull, switch!" He and Skull swapped places, so he faced a plant-like humanoid with leaves on its head named Mandrake while Skull faced another Bicorn. "Jack-o'-Lantern, ravage them! Agi!" He summoned one of the floating pumpkin creatures he had first fought with Arsène, commanding it to use a fire spell.

"_Hee-Ho!"_ It giggled and waved its lantern, causing a fireball to shoot out and throw the Mandrake to the ground. Behind him, Skull let out a roar and kicked away the Bicorn, before ripping off his mask.

"Whip 'em, Captain Kidd! Zio!" Kidd let out a deep laugh and pointed his cannon forward, unleashing a thunderbolt that sent the Bicorn to its knees, before Mona unleashed a Garu to knock down the last Jack-o'-Lantern.

"Joker, they're all knocked down and open!"

"All-Out Attack!" The team jumped into action at his command, beginning to obliterate the Shadows in one fell swoop.

"Time for some bloodshed!" Mona cheered as he cut through them, Skull and himself right by his side. The cat-creature finished them off, landing on the ground and grinning smugly as he pulled a cigar from his belt pouch. "Mission Accomplished!"

"Is it okay for a cat to smoke?" Skull murmured to him, causing Jack-o'-Lantern to giggle as it waved its lantern and floated around their heads.

He just shrugged as he returned the pumpkin Persona to his mask, and once the Shadows finished disintegrating, spun his dagger and sheathed it. He nodded at their destination, a Safe Room they'd spotted before the fighting had started. "Let's get inside."

Inside the distorted room, or really the room with the least distortion, he sat down on the table, removing his mask but not summoning any Persona so he could rub at his nose. "There have been way more Shadows up here than in the dungeons…"

"Yeah, I was about to ask about that," Skull scratched his head. "Wouldn't they want more guards down with the prisoners or whatever? I mean, getting this far has been a real pain!"

"It's all because you guys provoked Kamoshida, you know. But still… he does seem awfully on guard…"

"Anyway, how're we supposed to steal that Treasure thing?"

Mona scoffed and crossed his stubby arms. "Don't be so hasty. First, we'll need to secure an infiltration route."

"A… what?"

"A path to the treasure," he explained to Skull, spinning his mask. "After all, we need a safe getaway route after we grab it… and if we can't accomplish this in one day, we'll need a fast route to where we left off."

"Oh, I get it!"

"Joker is correct. And besides that… Doing this as a three-man group… we may need some more manpower. Even one more person would be helpful… otherwise, we'll have to be much more careful."

Skull suddenly perked up. "Hey, you said you don't have any memories or whatever, but somehow you still know all this stuff?" He leaned towards him and away from Mona, whispering out the side of his mouth. "You _really_ think this thing's got amnesia?"

He just laughed and shrugged. "It is a tad suspicious… But I believe in Mona."

"I'm not sure how to feel about that," Mona muttered, looking away and causing him to chuckle.

"Hey man, you sure talk big, but what if it turns out that you're just a stray cat in the end?"

Mona shook his head. "That can't be…"

Before he could comfort Mona, they all paused as they heard guards talking outside the room. "...y was the princess in such an odd place?"

"Princess?" Skull asked.

"The Cognitive Doll?" He furrowed his brow as he threw out an assumption, leaning against the door. "She had a tiara, remember?"

The guards outside continued speaking with each other, "I could have sworn we were pursuing the readings of an intruder…"

"It doesn't matter now. We must take her to King Kamoshida," another answered.

"So they're talking about the doll Takamaki?" Skull questioned

"I should probably look into this," Mona murmured as he snuck out of the room.

"And there he goes, with yet another question unanswered." Skull groaned and leaned against the room's table. "Y'know, this whole place is mysterious and all, but Morgana's got 'em both beat."

"I think you mean Mona, Skull," he reminded with a cheeky smirk.

"O-Oh, right! Sorry, still getting used to code names…"

"You can forget mine if you want, I still think it's lame. However, we _do_ live in a society."

"What?"

He didn't have time to educate Skull on his reference as Mona came barging back in, a panicked look on his face. "This is bad!"

He narrowed his eyes and stood straight, "What's wrong?"

"I-It's your friend, Lady Ann! She's been taken by Shadows!"

"What?! We sent her home! She didn't follow you back in, did she?!"

"No, I made sure she wasn't brought back in when I returned. How could she have gotten back?!" He suddenly remembered one of his talks with Igor in the Velvet Room, and how he spoke of 'granting others who would be beneficial to him the Metaverse Navigator.' "Do you think she got the app…?"

"If Lady Ann does indeed have the app, perhaps the Castle was in its history, allowing her entrance even without the search terms…"

"So, it got put onto her phone just like mine?!" Skull growled and jumped off the table, grabbing his head in frustration. "Damnit! We got her out for her own safety, and she just came back in by herself!"

"We have to get her out of here," he barked, slipping his mask back on. They ran out of the Safe Room, finding several guards that looked surprised at their appearance. "I'll reveal your true forms!" Jumping forward to rip off their masks, they turned into blobs of ooze that transformed into various Shadows. Summoning his Mandrake, he removed his mask with wisps of cerulean flame. "Mandrake, ravage them!"

The plant-humanoid appeared before him and smirked. "_Come on, let's get it on, then!"_

_Hmph! She's annoying, right, Mister Joker?_

_Me could say same about you, Pixie._

**Could everyone please be silent?**

Ignoring the voices in his head, both he and Mandrake dodged away from a Pixie's Zio, before he commanded Mandrake to use Pulinpa. Yellow streams of light flew through the air and impacted with an enemy Bicorn, causing it to become confused and stumble around. A Jack-o'-Lantern blasted an Agi at him, and he grunted as he was burned by the attack.

Skull jumped into the fray, roaring as he bashed aside the Jack-o'-Lantern. "Joker, you doin' alright?"

"Ah, yeah, just give me a second…" He was still stunned slightly, lying on the ground. He had quickly discovered the downside to his ability to hold multiple Personas soon after gaining Bicorn. Whichever Persona he had equipped, he gained their immunities, resistances, and weaknesses. Mandrake resisted electricity but was weak to fire, meaning he too was now weak to fire. However, if he had switched to Arsène he would have been neutral to the flames and resisted curse and psy, but he'd be weak to ice and holy, while if he had changed to Jack-o'-Lantern he would have absorbed the fire, but been weak to wind, ice, and projectiles. If he was going to use his powers to the best of his abilities, he'd need to memorize all his Personas' affinities.

He felt a wave of energy flow over him, and his burn wounds quickly healed, just slightly faster than his outfit mending. Mona smirked as he jumped past, Zorro giving a quick salute as it used a Dia on him. "You'd better thank me for this later, Joker!"

"I'll buy you some tuna," he grinned back.

"Mrow! Now that- hey!" Snickering at Mona's reaction, he pushed off the ground and did a backflip onto his feet, switching to Bicorn within his mind.

"Alright, let's go!"

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Ann•

"Hey!" She screamed as loudly as she could, straining at the restraints that held her to the X-shaped holding device, trying to call for anyone that would listen. "Will someone let me out?!"

Honestly, everything went wrong within the first minute of reentering the odd world. After the disorientation and shock of realizing she was able to make it back, she made her way across the drawbridge into the courtyard of the castle. She'd hoped that Starr-San and the others hadn't gotten too far ahead and that she would be able to catch up to them. However, her plans were quickly trashed as several guards ran up exclaiming how she was their 'princess' or something, before dragging her away.

And now here she was, strung up and held captive, with no way out. She struggled again, pulling hard at her restraints with no luck. "Hey?! Is anyone listening?!" The room she was in was disturbing, dozens of devices like the one holding her captive lined the room, several blatantly for torture, others for more sexual purposes. Although, considering Kamoshida, she was willing to bet the sick bastard probably got off to torture as well. Across the room from her and completely ignoring her yells were what looked like faceless human girls, giggling and pawing at each other like animals rutting, not even caring for the girl held against her will.

"Let me out!" She tried again, screaming and struggling.

No answer.

"I-I'm gonna call the police!" It was a lie of course. How would she even reach her phone while draped up as she was? It was mostly just an attempt to make her feel like she had some form of control over the situation. Starr-San had been right, hadn't he? She was an idiot… He told her about the dangers that they were going to face, and she just… _decided _that she would be fine, and the moment she realized she had some new app out of nowhere, and it could bring it back to the world they'd snuck into, she threw caution to the wind and jumped straight in.

Would she be able to survive this? Could she? The only chance she had was if Starr-San and Sakamoto-San found her, and who knows if they even knew about her predicament?

"**So this is the intruder…" **Her eyes widened and shot towards the source of the words. They had a wavering and ghostly undertone to them, but the slime and lust in them was still audible… Actually, it was even more audible than it was in the real world. And there he was, the muscular moron himself, draped in a red cloak with pink hearts dotted all along it, and his only other pieces of clothing being brown slippers, tight pink underpants, and a tacky golden crown. His now sickly golden eyes leered at her, and she internally winced at what she saw within them.

Out from behind him stepped a new person, and she realized they looked identical to her and was half-naked, dressed only in a pink two-piece bikini and high heels, plus a tiara with cat ears attached to it. The copy of her draped herself over Kamoshida, and she narrowed her eyes and gagged at the sight.

"Kamoshida," she spat, "and who the hell is that?!" Several knights followed them into the room, two of them standing on either side of the thing she was bound to.

"**I can't believe you mistook **_**my **_**Ann for someone like **_**her.**_" Kamoshida chuckled and shook his head, mocking her, and she fumed as she strained against the bindings, only for one of the guards to lay the edge of their blade against her throat. She stilled and looked down with wide eyes, causing Kamoshida's chuckles to turn into outright laughter, before he lowered his voice to whisper, "**are you afraid?"**

She tried to force down her fear by glaring at the false king, "What's with that outfit, pervert? Have you lost your mind? Pink _really_ doesn't suit you!"

Kamoshida just seemed amused by her words, spreading his arms to encompass the entirety of the castle. "**I do as I please here! After all, this is my castle, my world! My world of desires." **Her mind flashed back to Starr-San's words. An entirely new world. One that represented Kamoshida's twisted, sick mind, how he was loved and revered by all of the adults around him, while all of the students were crushed beneath him as slaves or used as dolls. Everyone would do anything he wished, trying their utmost to please him… hatred managed to overpower her fear for a moment, but not long.

"O-Of course your mind would be just like a disgusting red-light district," she spat as she tried to hide her fear.

"**Aww, what a lively slave!" **Kamoshida leaned forward and cooed at her, mocking her. "**And **_**so **_**observant as well! But I think there may just be a bit too much thought going on in that pretty little head of yours!"**

"This isn't funny!" She shouted back at the man, glaring. "And I am not your slave!"

"**Well well, the girl's decided to tell me off…what do you think of that?"** He turned with a grin towards the copy of her, though she knew he was just stalling, playing and toying with her. He probably knew exactly what he wanted to do with her the moment he'd been told about her capture. Fake Ann just giggled like an airhead, wiggling in place with her arms swinging back and forth, and nodding along at Kamoshida's words like the ditzy bimbo that Kamoshida saw her as.

"Talking back is, like… totally unforgivable." She felt anger surge out again and she absentmindedly hated how her emotions were just pushing back and forth inside her, fighting between anger and fear, rage and terror, but she couldn't help it. Everything about the situation was horrifying, yet everything also pushed her temper to new heights.

"**Well, in that case… she should be executed!" **She thought she gasped, but she couldn't tell as her heart clenched and her skin went pale. Her eyes widened and snapped to Kamoshida, but he was just chortling to himself. This was sickening… she was going to die here, just like this? She… "**Now then, how should I play with you? Shall I tear you into tiny little pieces…?"**

She shuddered, dread creeping up the back of her spine as the false king got closer, and she blurted out the first thing she could think of. "Starr-San and Sakamoto-San will stop you!"

Kamoshida stopped, but he just laughed. "**Please, those two? They have no chance of stopping me."**

She thought back to when Starr-San consoled her after taking her out of the palace. He might've been bluffing, but she needed a good bluff right now. "S-Starr-San told me. He and Sakamoto-San defeated your guards easily! If you think they aren't on their way, and won't beat you down as easily as stepping on a bug-"

Kamoshida was suddenly in her face, roaring and sending spit flying. "**THEY ARE NOTHING COMPARED TO ME!"** He huffed and stepped back, flicking his cloak. "**I am a King, while they are just petty Thieves, useless nobodies!"**

"T-Then why are you so scared of them?" There was a waver in her voice, but she managed to put a mocking bite in the rest of her sentence.

"**You…" **

There was a sudden crashing noise as a large black horse crashed through the doors of the room, the horns on its head having been used like battering rams. Riding atop it back was Starr-San, his gaze completely ignoring Kamoshida as if he was beneath his notice, and instead on her. His clothes may have been more similar to a thieves attire rather than a warrior's, but at that moment, he was a knight in shining armor to her.

Behind him, another guard was kicked into the room, the power of the kick _launching _them into the opposite wall, and out walked Sakamoto-San. Though he may not have been riding a horse like Starr-san, he looked just as much like a hero. The faux-blond's eyes landed on Kamoshida and he snarled, gripping a baseball bat with chains wrapped around it hard.

Starr-San jumped down from the horse as the creature vanished into blue flames and turned into his mask. He grabbed a dagger in his right hand and a gun in his left, pointing the ranged weapon at Kamoshida and supporting it with his right arm as several guards moved between them. "Get the hell away from her, you scumbag," he hissed.

Morgana followed and pulled a saber from nowhere, while Sakamoto-San pointed his bat at them. "Takamaki, we'll eff this guy up, don't worry!" Kamoshida glared at Sakamoto-San and Starr-San for their outbursts, Fake Ann still watching without a care in the world.

"**And just like cockroaches, you keep coming back…" **Kamoshida spat and backed away, huffing. "**You know, I was just starting to enjoy myself!" **

"Oh, I'm sorry to have intruded, your highness!" Starr-San gave a mocking bow but kept his eyes up and weapons ready. "In fact, why not just let the lass go, and us worthless peasants will get out of your hair. We'll let you get back to your little pervy fantasies, _without _us."

"**You just don't know when to quit," **Kamoshida sneered.

Sakamoto-San growled and stomped forward as he swung his bat threateningly. "Listen up asshole, if you don't want us to kick your ass all the way to-"

He was cut off as Kamoshida motioned at one of the guards, and they placed their sword at her throat. She looked down with wide eyes, and Sakamoto-San cursed as he backed away. "**Now now, I'm sure you wouldn't want this precious girl's body to be stained red, do you?"**

"Hey, she's wearing red already, isn't she?" Starr-San's voice was light, but his eyes were dark, a burning hatred that seemed ready to combust. His hand wavered, the barrel of his gun flicking between Kamoshida and the guard who'd placed his sword against her neck.

"I-If you kill me, you know there's nothing stopping them from beating your head in!" She licked her lips nervously, sweat dripping down her face as the blade dug into her neck slightly.

"**Oh, no, who said I would be killing you?" **Kamoshida's smile turned depraved, and she felt her stomach drop. "**You know, I bet you're just like those thieves… you came because you're pissed at me, huh? But, ah… I forget that chick's name, but it's your fault she jumped you know."**

She stared at him. She shouldn't have been surprised at how callous and unconcerned he sounded, but she somehow still was. "You… What you did to Shiho was-"

"**After all, you were so reluctant to throw yourself onto me that I had her take your place." **Kamoshida shrugged. "**If you had just done what I said, maybe your friend wouldn't have suffered like she did."**

"You BASTARD!" She struggled against the restraints, only to gasp as the sword against her throat pressed in, and a drop of blood ran down the blade. Kamoshida began laughing at the terror on her face, while Sakamoto-San took a step forward.

"Hey, stop!" The guards stepped in front of the boy and he growled as Kamoshida taunted him.

"**Go ahead and try something. The moment you do, she loses her life." **

She saw Starr-San raise his gun, pointing it directly at Kamoshida's head. Whereas before it was to try and intimidate Kamoshida, she could see it in his eyes. He was preparing himself to pull the trigger. Sakamoto-San grabbing his arm was the only reason he didn't fire his weapon yet, his friend trying to keep him from becoming a murderer. "We have to be able to do something besides kill the bastard! We're doing this even though it could kill him, not actively trying to kill him!" She just stared, all her tightly wound emotions collapsing. It was too much… He had the resolve to kill a man just to save her, and all she could do was watch. She'd failed Shiho, and she'd failed herself.

Kamoshida was focusing fully on her now, an approving grin forming. "**There, isn't that easier? Now, why don't the rest of you sit back and enjoy the dismantlement show?"** Silent tears fell, she was too weary from everything that… well, just nothing. She no longer had the strength to fight back. _Shiho, I'm sorry I couldn't do anything… Starr-San, Sakamoto-san, sorry for making you waste your time on me…_ "**Now then, how should we begin? Maybe I'll start with her clothes…" **

Princess Ann giggled approvingly, "You're such a perv~!" Her deadened spirit couldn't fall any further, and the helpless yet enraged gazes of the boys couldn't bring any hope to her, no matter how much retribution the black and red-clad boy's eyes promised Kamoshida was in for. She gave in and slumped forward, not even noticing the blade still cutting into her throat. Kamoshida was saying something, but she didn't have the energy to focus on him.

"This is my punishment, isn't it…" She sighed and closed her eyes, murmuring to herself. "My punishment for what happened to Shiho…" Shiho had suffered because she'd refused Kamoshida. If she had just given herself over to him… Shiho wouldn't be comatose and in danger of dying, but she had let her pride and terror overwhelm her entirely and lead to everything happening now… She would die, and there was nothing she could do. "Shiho… I'm so sorry…"

"Hey, Takamaki-San, I don't mean to interrupt, but are you just going to listen to this piece of human garbage?" Her eyes drifted upwards to see Starr-San glaring towards her, not with anger but resolution. The resolution she didn't have. "You asked me how we got our powers, didn't you? They're our rebellion, our strength of will. The power to overcome any obstacle or just plow through them."

Kamoshida seemed content to let Starr-San talk, probably thinking he was blustering about nothing. But the boy paid him no mind, focusing on her. She looked back with widening eyes as he smiled, light dancing in his silver eyes. "Don't you want justice for Shiho? I thought you weren't a coward? If you aren't, you would keep fighting until your last breath. You would never give in. Kamoshida is a pathetic rapist who only holds power against those who don't fight back. Ryuji and I are where we are now because we stood back up and fought past our cowardice, and you can too."

"I'm… alone-"

"But you're not, damnit!" Starr-San took a step forward and the guards stiffened. "Ryuji, Morgana and I, we're all here, all fighting to take this fucker down, so are you going to just lie there like the doll he thinks you are, or are you going to fight? Well, Ann?! Which is it?!" He… If Kamoshida got away with this, he would eventually forget all about it, all about them, as if they were nothing. She had done this to protect Shiho and get revenge, but Kamoshida would just move on to the next victim, and the next, and the next… It wouldn't end. He would never face justice… Not unless she got up.

And fought.

"**Yes, well, that's all very well and good, but if you'll excuse me, I think we've gone off schedule." **His smarmy voice… it was really starting to piss her off!

"Joker, we have to do something," Sakamoto-San growled, but Starr-San never took his eyes from her. They were pushing her, _fight on,_ they almost seemed to say.

"Don't worry. I think Takamaki-San's got it from here."

"**In any case-"**

She interrupted the mad king with a scoff. "What the hell was I thinking? Letting you toy with me like that…"

Kamoshida growled, realizing she'd regained a spark of rebellion. Just peachy. And he'd just beaten it out of her, too! "**You should realize your position is hopeless. Slaves should just behave and li-"**

"Shut up." She felt emotions raging through her, no longer bound by the chains of fear and terror, but free and blazing through her. There was something else, too… something building up, and ready to snap.

"Listening to you ramble on and on like this…" she glared, and her eyes flashed from cyan to gold. "It's really beginning to piss me off."

"**Are y—"**

"SHUT UP!" She strained against the metal holding her arms and legs, the rage, the… rebellion burning like a wild inferno, ready to incinerate anything in her path. "What you did… what you think you can get away with… I'LL BURN YOU ALIVE FOR IT!"

It snapped.

**My, it's taken far too long…**

She gasped as agony coursed through her body, filling every last cell of her. In her mind, she could hear a woman's voice, sultry and commanding, but aside from her, the copy of her, and the fake volleyball girls, there were no women in the room who could have said that.

"What…?" She could hear Sakamoto-San question through the pain. "What the hell is… she's Awakening?!"

Kamoshida roared something before an explosion went off. Sakamoto-San, Morgana, and Starr-San had closed in and were circling her defensively, fighting off monsters, but she couldn't focus on that, the pain escalating and piercing her skull.

**Tell me, who is going to avenge her if you don't?**

She thrashed against the metal contraption, the tears that were once silent and lonesome rushing down her cheeks and mixing with drool that dropped from her lips.

**Forgiving him was never an option… such is the scream of the other you that dwells within…**

But the voice… it was right. It was like a beacon in the midst of the fog, calling through the pain. She grasped for it, trying to find an end to the horrible suffering that afflicted her entire body.

**I am Thou, Thou art I… We can finally forge a contract.**

She slumped forward as the pain finally fled her body, and with a flash of blue flame, a red panther mask was upon her face and her eyes were fully gold. "I hear you, Carmen…" She looked up and narrowed her eyes. "You're right! No more holding back!" Kamoshida snarled and stepped back as his guards were prevented from killing her before she could Awaken, and she felt strength flow through her, the same strength that Starr-san and Sakamoto-san had once wielded.

**There you go… Nothing can be solved by restraining yourself.**

The iron shackles, just as the stone beneath the boys had shattered when they awakened, snapped easily, blue flames wrapping around her wrists as she stumbled forward, finally free, and reached up to rip off the mask. It tore at her flesh, blood seeping out as she pulled, before with one final tear the red liquid splashed forward and a pillar of cerulean fire exploded from her, Carmen's laughter echoing through her ears.

**Understand? Then I'll gladly lend you my strength. **

"**Damnit," **Kamoshida cursed upon seeing the third Awakening to occur within his Palace.

Starr-San just smirked and stabbed a guard in the throat, throwing him into another. "If I were you I might just start running, you coward!"

"Hell yeah!"

"Mrow!"

The fire around her was comforting, and she felt Carmen's strength flowing through her, whispering sweetly. It asked of her to never hold back again. Every adult who turned a blind eye or abused their power would no longer be ignored, no, with the power she now wielded she could fight and burn away their lies.

The first thing that appeared through the fire was Carmen herself. She was a tall woman, dressed extravagantly in a red, pink and black dress that looked very similar to a rose, while stood atop the back of a shadow puppet-like man adorned in a suit and with a helmet shaped like a heart. Another floated alongside her, and they were both bound to her by vine-like leashes. Her dress turned into a corset at her waist, open in the middle to reveal the Persona's large cleavage. Her face was hidden beneath a panther mask like her own, except for the golden eyes peering out. Even her hair was done up in twintails like her owner, albeit black as night and looking like corkscrews, while a cigar hung from the corner of her mouth.

Carmen smirked and blew out a puff of smoke from her cigarette, while the men she held on leashes looked at her with unmatched admiration and love. "**I am the Graceful Dancer herself— 'Carmen!'"**

The fire died down to reveal her own outfit, and though she didn't take any notice of it, too focused on Kamoshida's sweating form, the two boys and one cat certainly did. It was a _very _tight latex catsuit with a prominent cleavage window and even a swishing cat's tail, with several zippers running down her breasts, stomach, under her crotch, and down her legs. On her hands were pink gloves, while covering her feet were a pair of sharp high-heel boots, going up to her thighs. On her hip was what looked to be a long whip, ready to snap, and Akira and Ryuji looked at each other before swallowing.

"She, uh… kind of looks like a dominatrix…"

"Yeah, I'll uh, I'll just stay over here…"

The description certainly fit. She would no longer allow any man to just walk all over her and control her life. She was back behind the wheel, and she was ready to take revenge. As the guards stared up at her Persona, she took the opportunity to run forward and disarm one with a swift kick to the sword. As it was thrown high into the air, she used the guard as a springboard and leaped up with agility she was sure she didn't have before, grabbing the handle and slicing down.

Kamoshida winced, but he wasn't her target. No, he didn't deserve a swift death. Her target had been her doppelganger, the sword slicing from head to crotch and turning the doll into ash before she even hit the floor. She slowly got up, glaring at the panicking teacher. "You know what? I'm not some cheap girl you can toy with, you scumbag."

"**B-Bitch!" **Kamoshida scowled and let his guards step forward to defend him, but she simply strode forward with the other Persona users behind her. He thought he was safe in his castle, but she would squash those assumptions easily. "**Kill them all!"**

"You stole everything from Shiho…you destroyed her… and now it's your turn." She pointed forward, and flames erupted from Carmen, though this time instead of cerulean they were burning red and yellow. "I WILL ROB YOU OF EVERYTHING!"

The guards in front of him transformed into monsters to try and protect their king, the lead one becoming a bearded demon that growled down at her. "How dare you! Enough of your insolence!"

"No, I've had enough of you." She clenched her fists and grasped her whip, cracking it like an expert. "No ones gonna stop me now!" She crouched down like a cat, a wild, insane grin growing as the feeling of rebellion filled her. "Let's go, Carmen!"

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Akira•

He smirked as Takamaki-San unleashed what felt like a wave of fire from hell itself, throwing back the Shadows around her. Now this was more like it… time to kick Kamoshida's face in!

_Master, this seems like job for Arsène!_

_Aw, but I wanted a turn fighting…_

**Indeed it is! Let us show them what true destruction is! **

He grinned at Arsène's voice and mentally switched between Bicorn and his main Persona, before summoning the demonic thief. Captain Kidd appeared alongside him, with Zorro following. "Skull, Mona, I want you taking down the weaklings, I'll help Takamaki-San take down the big one!"

"Got it! Come on Monamona, let's show 'em how it's done!"

"Don't call me that, Numbskull!" The two broke off with a mix of thunder and sharp wind. The demon attempted to attack Skull with a blast of its own wind, but Arsène blocked it with his body. Before it could attack again, Carmen threw the demon back with a fireball, causing it to grunt and glare at them.

"Begone with you, thieves!" It attempted to attack them with another blast of wind, and he quickly dodged with a roll, while Takamaki-San did a flip. When they were both back on their feet they charged forward, and he started the attack with a hail of bullets, causing the demon to flinch back. While it was on the figurative back foot, he grabbed Takamaki's whip and launched her up, where she spun and cracked the demon across the face with her weapon, causing it to stop levitating and fall to the floor.

A pillar of fire roasted it from below, and it screeched before Arsène stabbed down at it, having launched himself from the air and using his knife-like heels as daggers. His foot sank into the demon's throat before he kicked it towards them and hit it with an Eiha. While it was still in the air, he smirked and summoned up energy from inside him, causing light to glow along his arms. "Rebellion α!"

The demon was ravaged by the attack and skid across the floor, laying before them. He attempted to get back up, but another pillar of fire courtesy of Carmen prevented that. "Good thing this one was weak to fire." He smirked. It glared up at him, and he switched Personas, summoning Jack-o'-Lantern.

"_Hee, let's burn them up, ho!" _Jack-o'-Lantern's lantern unleashed several flames, and though they were weaker than Carmen's, they easily finished the job and turned the demon to ash, which then melted down into a dark ooze. He nodded and looked to see Skull and Mona finishing the other Shadows while still bickering between themselves.

He turned to Takamaki-San to see her huffing, the strain of Awakening starting to take its toll on her. He smiled and grabbed her shoulder, "Nicely done. Personas are a hell of a drug, aren't they?"

She smiled back, and Carmen reverted into her red mask. "Thanks… Now, where did that slimy asshole go?" Both their eyes drifted to the cowardly king, who was against a wall and sweating.

"**Oh shit!" **Kamoshida scrambled towards the door, and he and Takamaki-San gave chase.

"Rebellion α!" The blast of energy crashed into the stone wall by the door and exploded, barely missing Kamoshida's escaping form. He growled under his breath, the odd power not quite as instinctual as Arsène or his other Personas, though he did note that its explosion radius didn't seem to be as strong as it had been in the real world. "Jack-o'-Lantern! Stop him!"

"_Hee won't get away, ho!" _Jack-o'-Lantern prepared more fire, but a Mandrake jumping in their way to save its king prevented the attack from landing, and the flames instead burned away the Shadow. They continued to chase him, but they didn't get far, as his female companion fell to her knees with a cry of exhaustion.

"Wait…!" Takamaki-San winced and he immediately halted, turning to check on her.

"Hey, are you alright?" He knelt and saw a small slash on her arm, hidden by the blood leaking from it. The catsuit was beginning to repair itself like his and Skull's gear did, but her flesh wasn't. He swapped Jack-o'-Lantern with Pixie, unmasking and calling her out to cast Dia on her wound. Mona and Skull approached, with Skull scratching his head.

"Hey, so why'd you come back here?! And how the hell did you?!"

Mona immediately snapped at the boy, "Hey, is that any way to speak to a Lady?!" He turned to Takamaki-San and attempted to soothe the girl. "Are you alright, Lady Ann?"

"Lady Ann…?" She looked at the cat and quirked an eyebrow, before realizing who she was talking to. "Wait, what even are you? Are you alive? How can you even talk?"

Mona scrambled to answer her questions, waving his paws. "J-Just calm down, everything's going to be okay; don't worry."

Takamaki-San got up by using Mona's large head, pushing most of her weight onto him, causing him to almost overbalance while she glared down at him. "How am I supposed to calm down?!" When she fully stood, she seemed to finally realize she was wearing something other than her school uniform, that being the very revealing costume. "H-Huh?! Why am I dressed like this?! When did I-?!" She hunkered down and squeezed her eyes shut, "Ugh, what is with this?!"

Mona tried to comfort her while Skull just groaned, and he rubbed his chin. The girl looked pretty down, so he tried to think of a joke to lighten the mood. He looked at her whip and dominatrix-esque outfit and smirked. "Step on me, madam."

"WHAT?!"

"What?" Skull began choking on his saliva, first at what he had said, then at how calmly he had replied to the girl's scream, before bursting out into laughter. Mona just shook his head in exasperation, probably at what the cat thought of as 'vulgar jokes in front of a Lady,' and he just grinned down at the girl.

She tried to keep the look of anger on her face, but the sheer audacity of what he'd said cracked her emotional mask, and the corners of her mouth twitched upwards as she tried to not laugh at how boldly he'd spoken. "Don't… don't say that again."

"Of course, of course." He chuckled and offered her his hand, helping her to her feet. She stumbled from dizziness, and Skull helped by grabbing her other arm. "Come on, let's go. Kamoshida probably sent a bunch of guards this way."

"Ugh, just when we were getting fired up…" Skull groaned and shook his head. "She just had to get in the way…"

"Hey, at least we got to see her Persona." He snickered. "Now that was a sight to see."

"Ugh, can you please not describe it like that?" Takamaki-San blushed and shook her head, while he just laughed. They made their way back to the entrance as quickly as they could, and when the guards finally arrived, all they found was a scorched, empty room.

* * *

**I love writing Akira as a sassy and cocky little showoff in the Metaverse, and then a sarcastic and smart but reserved teenager in the real world. Gives a real contrast to his character that I think they were going for in the game too. You see him smirk at the ends of battles, do flips and dives, and just be theatrical as all hell in the metaverse. Just look at the Down Special animation where he jumps around like a madman when shooting all them bullets lol. Then you look at his interactions in the real world where he doesn't smirk at all, wears glasses to hide his glare, and sticks to the dress code, unlike previous protagonists who change their outfits, like the P4 protag wearing his jacket open and the P3 protag wearing his headphones. **

**While every Persona protagonist has been blank slates to let the player insert themselves and come up with their personalities, I feel like Joker has the most hints of a character, as I've said. Also, I love Morgana's All-Out Attack animation. Like, where does the chair come from? Where does the cigar come from? His little pack? Does Morgana smoke? Same goes for Noir's, where does the table and teacup come from? I mean, she's stylish, but what? So weird...**

**Either way, leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read. See y'all next time!**


	9. Chapter 9: The Lovers, The Magician

Chapter 9: The Lovers, The Magician

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Akira•

Takamaki-san slowly nodded as he and Morgana finished speaking, having explained what they knew of the Metaverse so far. Many of the things seemed ridiculous, but she had seen most of said ridiculous things already. After helping explain the few things he did know, Ryuji had left to grab them all some drinks.

Currently, they were at the train station by Shujin, the escape from the palace going much easier than after Ryuji's awakening. With Bicorn helping by carrying the girl, the rest of them could focus on fighting the few guards that reached them in time before they could get out. He adjusted his bag as Morgana poked his head out, looking at Takamaki-san. "Do you understand everything a bit better now, Lady Ann?"

Takamaki-san didn't react to the nickname, still busy thinking over everything they'd told her. "I think so…" Her eyes drifted up to the cat, "Uh, Morgana, right? I'm talking to a cat right now… Or, not a cat? You said you weren't a cat, right?"

"He says that he was a human," he explained for Morgana, "but the distortions of the Metaverse twisted his form around until he was this. Ryuji and I are going to be helping him return to his real form once we're done with Kamoshida."

While she still looked a bit confused, Morgana smiled in sympathy. "It's only natural that you're confused. Asking that you understand everything right away would be rude." He snorted at the cat's words, remembering his condescending attitude towards him and Ryuji. Less so towards him, as he demonstrated his intelligence and skill, but still.

"But… how was I moving like that in there?" She turned to him with a confused glance, "I've never done anything like that before. And I've definitely never touched a whip before!"

"I think it has something to do with our Personas." He thought back to when he first summoned Arsène. "I've never used a dagger, but I knew how to expertly wield mine when I awakened. And even though I'm athletic and a slight bit acrobatic, I've never hit that hard, run that fast, or taken so many blows, and I'm not some parkour genius in the real world. I believe our Personas give us some kind of… passive boost."

"Okay… So our Personas make us acrobatic and stronger?"

"Precisely. Perhaps it has to do with our cognition too, I certainly think of thieves as graceful and fast." Thinking for a moment, he grinned. "Well, our Personas do, I don't think Captain Kidd is making Ryu a ballerina anytime soon." Captain Kidd had certainly helped with his friend's leg since he could now run and fight without difficulty in the Metaverse, but he became much stronger and more durable, instead of acrobatic.

"That would be a sight," Takamaki-san giggled.

"Dance, Captain Kidd!" He imagined Ryuji striking a pose, holding one hand high in the air with a distinguished look on his face, and Takamaki-san apparently did the same as her giggles turned into laughter. He shook his head and gave a few chuckles of his own. "His clothes don't fit, he looks more like a pirate or maybe a biker than a dancer. I'd look smooth as hell though."

"Your clothes are certainly… interesting."

"I'd say that I look good. Like a classic thief, and certainly _not _a magician." He still wasn't sure why that comment from Ryuji rubbed him the wrong way. Arsène just chuckled within him at his annoyance.

"I can see why he thinks that… I'm not sure I like mine very much though."

"What're you talking about? You look great." Takamaki-san glared at him and he just let an embarrassed grin slip onto his face, causing the corners of her mouth to twitch into a smile before she shook her head.

"Don't think I forgot that little comment you made back in that castle."

**Smooth.**

_Shut it, _he shot back, hearing Bicorn, Pixie, Mandrake, and Jack-o'-Lantern's laughter at Arsène's words.

"Still, I look… I mean, you said the clothes are reflections of our inner selves, but it makes my inner self look like a nymphomaniac…"

"Well, I'd say it's more like a dominatrix. You've got the whip after all."

"That doesn't make it any better."

"Well, y-you know, some guys are into that, I'll have you know."

"Are you talking about yourself?"

He fought past the blush creeping up the back of his neck and looked away. "W-Well, look I didn't mea… listen!" Takamaki-san began giggling at his attempt to save face, causing him to groan in embarrassment. Ryuji finally walked up with a soda bottle in either hand to witness the scene and raised an eyebrow at Takamaki-san's laughter.

"Someone's finally calmed down." He held out the bottles. "Which one you want?"

"Whichever isn't carbonated."

"Uhh… they both are." He snorted at Ryuji's statement as Takamaki-san sighed.

"Fine… then this one." Takamaki-san grabbed one of the bottles, and Ryuji offered him the other one.

"Hey, did you get one for me?" Morgana asked, poking his head out of his bag.

"Uh… you're a cat though…" Morgana grumbled at his words, and he rolled his eyes as he scratched the feline's ears.

"Calm down Morgana, even if you are a human, in this form you're a cat. I don't think cats can have soda." Morgana slumped further in his bag, practically collapsing. "Look, I'll buy you milk or something on the way home. That should placate you."

"Mwehehe! Not all heroes wear ca— wait, don't you feed milk to cats?"

"I'd call my trench coat a kind of cape…"

"Are you making fun of me?!"

Morgana began trying to scratch him while Ryuji sighed. "Anyway… You've been filling her in, then?"

"Yeah… honestly, I still can't believe everything that happened in there. My Persona, the costume, everything…"

"It's the power of your rebellious will, Lady Ann! It'll give you the strength to fight in Palaces!"

"Right. Well, the costume is bad enough, but does Carmen have to look like… _that?_"

"I dunno, Carmen looked pretty badass to me!" Ryuji grinned and nodded, causing him to chuckle.

**But I am the most 'badass' of all thy team's Personas, correct?**

He rolled his eyes mentally at Arsène but did feel he needed to defend his other-self. "I agree with Ryu. I mean, Arsène is the coolest of our Personas, but Carmen's a close second."

_Hey, come on, what about me, Mister Joker?_

_Me am totally best!_

_You're delusional, Bicorn, I'm the coolest!_

_Hee, I could burn you up, Mandrake, ho!_

**Thou all should be silent, we have heard the Trickster's words! Clearly, I am his most badass Persona!** His eye twitched at the cacophony of voices in his head while Arsène laughed devilishly.

"What about Zorro? Such a charismatic and charming rogue such as he makes a lot of sense as my Persona, doesn't he?"

"Nah, Zorro looks pretty dull. And hey, you've just got some devil guy with wings, Captain Kidd has an effing cannon hand and a boat!"

**How dare he! **Pixie and Mandrake just giggled at Arsène's fuming.

"Oh, wow, a boat! Very impressive, Ryu. You're superior to us all." He bowed low to the faux-blond, and Ryuji stamped his foot.

"Hey, quit it! Boats are awesome! Especially pirate ships!"

"Oh wow, is Ryu a huge pirate nerd? I guess it would make sense with your outfit and Persona!"

"N-No!"

"How many cannons did the Queen Anne's Revenge have?"

"Well, I think like thirty of the ships' cannons were found, but lotsa people think that- w-wait, no, I don't know!" He began laughing at Ryuji, who growled in annoyance and turned away with an embarrassed blush, and Takamaki-san began joining in. It was nice to see her not stressed about everything going on, and he smiled at her.

She smiled back before it fell and she looked like she was contemplating something. "So, using that… Palace? We can make him have a change of heart and force him to confess, right?" The way she worded it made it sound like she thought it was too good to be true… Honestly, he thought it was as well, but it was their only path left.

"Well, it ain't gonna be easy, that's for damn sure." Ryuji scratched his head and sighed. "But it's the only way. Shit pisses me off, but the volleyball team's keepin' quiet with how deep Kamoshida's got 'em, and the teachers and parents are turnin' a blind eye. And if we try to complain, well, they'll just shoot us down." Ryuji's eyes darkened as he kicked at the ground while he nodded alongside him.

"That's true, but, Morgana, are you sure this'll work?"

When Morgana looked away, he answered Takamaki-san for the maybe-cat. "It's our best shot. There may not be any guarantees about whether it'll work, and if you can come up with a safer way then I'm all for it, but we've got until May. If this fails then it's over for us. Takamaki-san, you may not have the danger of being expelled hanging over your head, but without me, Ryuji, or Suzui-san, who knows how bad it could be for you here at Shujin?" Takamaki-san visibly shuddered, and he sighed. "Going all in… that's all that's left."

Takamaki-san nodded at his determined gaze. "Then let me help too. I'll make him pay for what he did to Shiho." Takamaki-san scoffed as she thought about Kamoshida's smug grin, and the urge to wipe that look off his face burned inside her like Carmen's hottest flames. "I'll never forgive him for what he did…"

As Ryuji sputtered at her request, he thought it over. There was no real logical reason to deny her joining. She wasn't as strong as either him or Ryuji in the real world, but with Carmen and her whip in the Palace she could take care of herself and could easily keep up in the Metaverse. "Hold on," Ryuji began, "You can't possibly-"

"Ryu, it's fine."

"Wha-, Akira, she's completely inexperienced! She'd slow us down!"

"Excuse me?! I-"

"Ryuji, you have, at most, a few hours experience over her. And I only have a bit more than that. I wasn't experienced when we busted out of that palace the first time, and neither were you when we fought off those horse fuckers."

"Well, yeah, but…"

"But what?" He sighed at Ann's rebuttal to Ryuji's mutters and crossed his arms.

"We'll need as many advantages as we can possibly get. We've seen that we can be surprised, so we need to be ready for anything. Besides, she brings fire to the table, alongside your electricity, Morgana's wind, and Arsène's curse."

"It ain't like you don't have one of 'em pumpkin guys," Ryuji grumbled weakly.

_Hee's got a point, ho! _He mentally told Jack-o'-Lantern to quiet down before he answered.

"But that's more energy for me to be saving, meaning we can delve deeper into the castle easier. We need to get this done asap." Ryuji just sighed and nodded, accepting his argument.

"Alright, welcome aboard, Takamaki-san. You're now a Phantom Thief." He smiled at the girl, and she giggled.

"Glad to be aboard." She made to say something, hesitated, before nodding. "Why don't you all just call me Ann? I mean, Sakamoto-san never uses honorifics anyway."

"Yeah, guess not, huh?" Ryuji shrugged. "You can just do the same then."

"I'm from Eagleland anyway," he chuckled, "I'm way more used to using first names. Just call me Akira."

Takam- no, Ann, agreed with a grin. "Well then, I guess that's that. Here, let's all give each other our numbers so we can keep in touch." They pulled out their phones and exchanged contact information before Akira set up a chat room for everyone. He wasn't sure what to call it, so he just named it after them.

**Chat Room: Akira, Ryuji, Ann**

**You—** Is everyone's number correct?

**Ryuji—** Yup

**Ann—** Mine is correct!

Akira nodded and put his phone away, "Alright, we can communicate with each other now. We just need a place to meet up."

"How about the roof? Nobody goes up th-" Ryuji coughed as he elbowed him in the stomach, glancing at Ann.

"You really have no tact, you numbskull," Morgana sighed.

"O-Oh, shit, uh… Sorry, Ann, I didn't mean-"

"No, it's fine." Ann shook her head. "You're right, with no one going up there we can meet in secret. And it'll remind me what I'm fighting for."

He nodded, "If you're fine with it, then that'll be our hideout. Let's all head home and rest, tomorrow we can meet up after school and discuss our plans further."

"Got it. And… thanks again. For everything, you two." Her gaze darkened and she clenched a fist, looking down at it. "I'm going to make Kamoshida pay… Not just for what he did to Shiho, but to you as well, Ryuji, and everyone he's ever hurt. He _will _atone." He smiled, feeling Ann's strong fighting resolve, and swore to keep fighting alongside her.

**Her passion and quest for vengeance shalt aid thy journey immensely. **His smile became a grin at Arsène's words, agreeing with the pillager.

A bond of trust was forged, within the fires of vengeance and a longing to take down the False King of Shujin.

**I am Thou… Thou art I.  
****Thou hast acquired a new vow.**

**It shall become the Wings of Rebellion  
****that breaketh thy chains of captivity.**

**With the birth of the Lovers Persona,  
****I have obtained the winds of blessing that  
****shall lead to freedom and new power…**

**Lovers Arcana, Ann Takamaki: Rank One**

"It's no problem."

"Yep, no problem for us, Lady Ann!"

He rolled his eyes at the cat's words, and Ann imitated him. "Well, I guess I'll get going. See you." She began walking away and his eyes drifted downwards.

**Art thou going to continue staring so obviously? **

_Lay off him, Mister Arsène! He's a teenage boy! _His gaze snapped back up with a blush as Pixie giggled in his head.

"What a kind girl… such admirable consideration for others. And the innocence to cast herself into the jaws of death to achieve her goal. She cares about her friends, and she's beautiful to boot! She's captured my heart!"

"Dude…" Ryuji and he looked at each other as Morgana sighed happily, while the faux-blond stuck a finger down his throat and gagged.

"Alright, Morgana, what are you doing now? Will you wait in the Palace for us, or what?"

"What are you talking about? I can't contact you from within the Palace, so I'll be staying with one of you! I nominate you, Akira."

"Excuse me?"

"Uh, it ain't gonna be me, so this's all you," Ryuji scoffed. "My apartment doesn't allow pets. He's all yours, Aki."

"Wha-"

"See ya!" Ryuji walked away, and he glared at the back of the faux-blond's head. He'd be getting back at him for that one.

"Well? Let's get going! I want to see my new residence in this world!" Morgana rustled around inside his bag and he sighed, before walking towards the train that led home.

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

Akira opened the front door of Leblanc, causing the small bell to ding as he entered. Sakura-san looked up and raised an eyebrow. "You're back later than usual."

"Can it be called usual when I've been here for a few days?" He blandly shot back. "I made a few friends, and was spending some time with them after school."

"Hm. Just make sure that you don't get into any more trouble." He nodded at the man, keeping his hand on his bag to keep Morgana steady. He had no idea what Sakura-san would do if he found out he'd snuck a cat into the shop, so he needed Morgana to keep silent.

As he walked a customer got out of her seat and he almost bumped into her. He sidestepped her quickly, nearly tripping, before bowing to her. "My apologies, miss."

"...No harm done." He straightened up and looked her over. She was dressed like a punk, with ripped tights plus a collar with small spikes on it, and had dark blue hair. She glanced away from him and walked out the door, as he continued towards the stairs while glancing towards Sakura-san. "Who was that?"

"One of my usual customers. I think she's a doctor of some sort, she works at a small clinic down the way." The older man shrugged, "Or at least, I think. I don't pry into her work since she doesn't like to speak about it."

"Why not?"

"Rumor has it she gives some pretty crappy examinations and sells some weird homemade medicine on top of that." He shuddered, flashing back to one time when he'd gotten sick and his mother had tried to mix several different types of cold, flu, and fever medications into one.

His father had barely managed to, somehow, resuscitate him from that unholy concoction…

"They should just leave her alone. It's not like she's getting in the way of their lives."

"Hm."

"Hey, what're you two ta-"

He squeezed his bag against him, hoping to shut up Morgana, and hurried up the stairs to his room. When he got upstairs he let out Morgana, who jumped onto his bed. "Morgana, watch it around Sakura-san!"

"Ehe… sorry…" Morgana grinned sheepishly, somehow, and walked around on his bed. "But man, this is your room? It's really… cluttered. And dusty. It's like a haunted house!"

"Yeah, I know," he grumbled, putting his bag down and pulling out the materials necessary to do his homework before turning and walking to Morgana. "But for now, I need to come up with a believable reason to have brought a cat home just in case Sakura-san decides to investigate."

"What do you mean?"

He kneeled, tilting Morgana's head and squinting. "Well… for one, let's mess up your fur, and I'd say try and fake some wounds, but I know nothing about makeup."

"WHAT?! You are _not _messing with my beautiful fur!"

"Yeah? If you aren't a cat, you shouldn't care, right?"

"J-Just because I'm a human doesn't mean I can't care about how I look in this form!"

He just rolled his eyes and removed Morgana's collar, before frantically rubbing his hands along the cat's body, messing up his fur, ignoring how Morgana tried to scratch him in return before returning the collar to Morgana's neck. "I don't have any dirt or mud, but I can say that I started to clean you if Sakura does find you."

"Gah! My beautiful fur…" As Morgana inspected his now disheveled and unkempt fur, Akira looked at the cuts on his hands.

"Well, I guess I could use these as evidence that you were stray or abandoned, and attacked me when I tried to help you…" He shrugged and walked to his desk, beginning his homework that he'd set out.

"Ugh, can we focus here?!" Morgana shook his head and continued, pacing around his bed. "Listen, me living with you won't just be give and take, I wanted to tell you earlier when we were all together. I'm going to teach you about infiltration tools!"

"Infiltration tools?" He looked over for a second, before refocusing on the paper in front of him. "What are those?"

"Oh, you know, lockpicks, smoke bombs… basic stuff!"

"Basic, he says…" He shook his head, glancing back at him. "Alright, but why do we need those things?"

"Well, within Palaces can be lots of goodies that can help us, like in locked treasure chests! That's what lockpicks are for! Then, stuff like smoke bombs can create screens and allow us to escape ambushes or avoid battles entirely! There's a bunch of things I can teach you!"

"Huh. That does sound useful." He erased a mistake and looked towards the disheveled cat through his peripheral vision. "Alright, so you'll be teaching me how to make them?"

"Yep! And in exchange, you take care of me!"

He smirked and nodded, finding that acceptable. "Alright. I think that sounds like a deal to me."

"Now, go and clean off that workbench, and we can get started." He moved towards the desk that Morgana had indicated and began clearing it off, moving the trash that cluttered its top. After adjusting a small box of tools and turning on a lamp, he had the perfect place to create infiltration materials from.

"Well, where do we start?"

"Hmph! Let me explain!"

And so, for the next few hours, Morgana instructed him on how to make a single lock pick. The first time the tiny instrument had snapped in his hands, he was calm. Mistakes happened, and the best thing to do would be to learn from them. As he worked, Morgana talked. "By the way, that power you used in the Palace was seriously amazing, you know."

"The ability to hold multiple Personas… useful, except for the chattering that goes on in my head."

_Hee, that's pretty rude you know, ho!_

_Me am not that annoying. Jack-o'-Lantern is though!_

"Case in point…"

"Yeah, I guess that could get pretty annoying, huh?"

"Indeed." He kept working, before remembering something from the battle within the Palace. "Morgana, I wanted to ask you something… During the fight, near the end, I tried to use my PSI to slow KAmoshida before he could escape, but he seemed pretty weak."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" he cursed when he accidentally cut his finger on one of the tools. "I tried testing my Rebellion attack at night, and it seemed pretty powerful. It managed to completely disintegrate a bird, but then within the castle, it barely scratched a wall. I get that stone is obviously more durable than flesh, but it still seems odd."

Morgana went silent, thinking as his tail flicked around. "Well… The Metaverse works on cognition… because Shadows think your model guns are real, they become real. And your will of rebellion gives you the strength to fight Shadows… however, if your powers really are psychic abilities, that may be the reason why."

He thought over Morgana's words, nodding slowly. "I see… In a world formed by cognition and thought, you would think that psychic abilities would be stronger, when it's really the opposite, because of that very cognition."

"Exactly! Most humans don't believe in psychic powers, right? And even those that do, probably have doubts deep inside their subconscious. Since the Metaverse is formed by the subconscious, and people don't believe in psychic powers, your powers are naturally weakened within the Metaverse.

"The only reason they can even work at all is due to your thief clothing and Persona, giving you natural resistance to the cognition of a Palace Ruler and the rest of humanity, letting you still use your psychic abilities even if others doubt their existence, however, they'd be incredibly weakened." Morgana nodded with a smirk as if teaching him something he never would have known when really they were figuring it out at the same time. Truly, if Morgana really was human and had just been transformed into an animal, it was fitting that he had taken the form of a cat, animals just as smug and cocky as Morgana was.

But, with their conversation over, he refocused on creating his tools. The next few times he messed up on the lockpicks he started to get annoyed, his proficiency in making lockpicks apparently very low. Eventually, however, he was able to make a single lockpick that he placed down carefully on the desk, his eyes twitching. "Fucking… finally…"

"Well, I suppose that was good enough for an amateur." His eyes shot to Morgana who was lazily leaning against the back of the desk with a deadly glare, and the cat quickly lifted his paws in surrender. "Alright, alright! You did fine. Good work."

"You bet your ass it was good work," he growled to himself irritably, fingers cramping. He heard footsteps suddenly and his eyes widened, grabbing the newly made lockpick and shoving it into his pencil case, before throwing Morgana onto the bed.

"Hey, what're you-!"

"Sakura-san's coming up," He hissed quietly, "You need to act like a stray!"

"Wh-"

"Listen, just hide behind me and hiss sometimes, trust me!" Sakura finally crested the stairs and raised an eyebrow at the sweat rolling down his forehead and his red fingers from working with the small tools, plus the small amount of blood still leaking from when Morgana scratched him a couple of hours beforehand.

"What have you been up to, heavy lifting?"

"Uhh…" His eyes darted to the beams crossing the ceiling of the attic. "I've been working out, pull-ups, and things like that."

"Right… It's closing time, so I came up here to ask you something." Sakura-san's eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms, "I thought I heard meowing earlier, but I couldn't exactly ask with customers in the restaurant. Did you bring a cat here?" He stood there for a moment trying to fake some nervous fidgeting, before stepping to the side to reveal the disheveled Morgana. Sakura-san furrowed his eyebrows and glared at him, "what did you bring it here for?!"

"I-I couldn't just leave it in the street! Look at him, he was abandoned!" Morgana started, looking at him with surprise at his acting, before slinking behind him, trying to look weak and helpless, hissing quietly at Sakura-san. "I had to clean him up, and he might have been injured or hurt by his previous owners because… well, I wasn't working out, he just scratched me a lot when I picked him up, so I think that's why. He might be scared of new humans."

"I see. That's… that's a shame." Sakura-san sighed, "but this is a restaurant, animals are a no-go."

"I can't just leave him like this," he whispered. "I-I… won't taking care of a pet make sure that I stay on my best behavior?"

"Well, that's true…" Sakura-san thought for several moments before groaning. "Alright, fine. But just keep it quiet when we're open for business. And don't let it roam downstairs, or I'll toss it out. And I won't be the one taking care of it, that'll be all you."

"Yes, sir, thank you, sir." He bowed, and the older man left the attic. He sighed and turned to Morgana. "Just as planned, well done. Now I can treat these cuts."

"Your ability to lie so well is kind of scary… I almost believed you for a second!" He shrugged, grabbing a few bandages from his bag and putting them on. "So, that was the Ruler of this place. He seems pretty understanding for a guy that keeps you in this dump."

"Yeah, you can say that…" Sakura-san suddenly came back up the stairs, and he quickly adopted another nervous look, ready to act. "I-Is there anything else you needed?"

Sakura-san just sighed, holding a plate with some fish on it. "No, not necessarily. But you don't have any food for it yet, yeah? I'll feed it just this once." His face wavered into a smirk as he watched the man place the plate on his bed. Looks like the guy had a soft spot for cats. "By the way… did you name it yet?"

He nodded at the collar Morgana was wearing. "It says his name is Morgana. I had to clean it off pretty good to see that." He still wasn't sure why Morgana had a collar in the real world, but it did lend credence to the theory that he really had just been a cat in the real world who'd been twisted in the Metaverse… he wouldn't tell Morgana that though.

"No, you didn't…" Morgana complained, still slightly annoyed.

"Morgana, huh? I was hoping to get to name it…" With that, Sakura-san left the attic, and Morgana flicked his tail, his annoyance becoming smugness.

"Looks like he likes me more than you!"

"Please, you don't need to tell me, I've known that from the first day I came here," he shot back with a snort.

"Yeah, I guess…" Morgana began eating, before looking towards him. "Hey… Remember how you guys asked me before about what I am? To be honest, I don't remember anything about my birth… I think, alongside my real body, the Metaverse's distortions made me lose my memories."

"And that form would be a human one, of course," he responded, feeling bad for Morgana.

"Well, yeah! I mean, it has to be! Why else would a cat be able to talk like this? There's no other possible explanation. There's no doubt that the distortions were what caused me to lose my true self. I'm sure that once they're purged, I'll finally be able to get that form back."

"How would we get rid of the distortions?"

"Well, I have a pretty good plan for that… It's actually why I was in the castle in the first place." Morgana continued eating. "Y'know, come to think of it, I didn't eat in that other world… Well, I guess you'll have to take care of me alongside just giving me a place to stay… sorry about that."

He just chuckled, leaning against the wall and placing his hands in his pockets. "Don't worry about it. That just means you have to teach me everything you know about infiltration tools in exchange, got it?"

"Alright, got it!"

**Knowledge of tools that would assist in thy craft would be an immense help… such a deal would be of incredible benefit,** Arsène noted.

He held a hand out and shook Morgana's paw, noting Morgana's smile, and how happy he looked.

**I am Thou… Thou art I.  
****Thou hast acquired a new vow.**

**It shall become the Wings of Rebellion  
****that breaketh thy chains of captivity.**

**With the birth of the Magician Persona,  
****I have obtained the winds of blessing that  
****shall lead to freedom and new power…**

**Magician Arcana, Morgana: Rank One**

As Morgana continued to eat, he ignored the mysterious woman's voice who spoke into his mind before he pulled out his phone and pulled up the photo he'd taken of a grumpy Morgana after he messed with his fur, selecting it and sending it to the group chat.

**Chat Room: Akira, Ryuji, Ann**

_You __have linked a picture: Grumpy_Cat-jpeg_

**Ryuji—** LMAO

**Ann—** Aw that's cute!

**You—** I'll make sure that he knows you think he's cute, Lady Ann.

**Ann—** Don't

He chuckled and signed out, seeing a notification that Ryuji had saved the picture. The faux-blonde was probably going to use it to tease Morgana in the future, and that would certainly be entertaining. He sat down by the desk and spun the phone on his finger, grabbing his pencil to finish his homework.

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Ann•

As she giggled at the photo that Akira had sent to the chat room, she tapped a pencil against her cheek. She was trying to focus on her work, but she kept thinking back to the Palace, and how it had felt to Awaken to Carmen. She clenched her fist, remembering how she'd summoned flames around her, or how she'd cracked the demon they'd fought across the face with her whip.

That very whip was in her bag nearby, having been brought out of the 'Metaverse' with her. Akira had explained that even though his dagger, Ryuji's bat, and her whip had formed inside the Metaverse, they could be brought out of the place. And though she didn't have a gun yet, they could buy her one.

She shook her head and looked down at the blank paper staring back up at her and sighed. She returned the paper to her bag and pulled her phone out again. She needed something to distract her, but with Shiho being her only friend… no, now she had another. She smiled and tapped on Akira's name in her contact list, getting ready to send him a message. But what would she send?

Akira seemed like a nice person for the short amount of time she knew him, so he would probably respond to whatever she sent, but she didn't want to bother him… maybe she should just start simply by thanking him for what he'd done. She sent the message, typing quickly.

**You—** Hey

**You—** Thanks for everything today.

**Akira—** It's no problem. I know anybody would love to have my number.

She smiled and huffed, typing back quickly.

**You—** Not for giving me your number, for everything that happened inside that place.

**You—** You saved me and I'm not really sure I thanked you enough. I mean you saved my life.

She waited as the three dots popped up to show that Akira was typing a response.

**Akira—** It's no big deal. After all, we had the means to save you, and you were in trouble, so what kind of person would I be if I didn't help you? Ryuji did the same thing after all, and so did Morgana.

Ann rolled her eyes.

**You—** Don't dodge it, take the gratitude.

**Akira—** Haha. Alright, fine. Make sure that you thank Ryuji as well, though. After all, he helped just as much. Morgana as well.

**You—** That's true. I'll make sure to message Ryuji and thank him. Could you thank Morgana for me?

Akira didn't answer and the conversation stopped for about a minute before he returned.

**Akira—** He says it's only natural that a gentleman should help a lady in need.

She groaned and held her face, a few laughs slipping through.

**You—** Right…

**Akira—** Don't be like that, wasn't he a knight in shining armor?

She could _feel _the sarcasm flowing from Akira's texts.

**You—** He's enthusiastic enough already.

**You—** Anyway you were definitely more of a knight. You came riding into the room on that horse of yours remember?

**Akira—** Why thank you, madam. Also, he says his name is Bicorn and that he isn't just a horse.

**You—** Right you can talk with your Personas. Well, thank him for carrying me out, okay? :)

**Akira—** You're thanking quite a few people today aren't you?

A smile crept onto her face as she scoffed. Holding a conversation with Akira was certainly interesting.

**You—** Oh whatever.

**Akira—** In all seriousness, don't worry about it. We have your back, just like, I hope, you have ours.

**You—** Of course! I'll make sure that I pull my weight!

**Akira—** Remember, Ryuji and I are essentially as new to this as you are. Don't worry about slowing us down or anything like that. A short training session before we next enter the Palace should get you used to how to fight with your Persona. Besides that, using them is instinctive. I'm sure you've noticed how you somehow knew how to control Carmen in battle.

She felt a warm feeling in her at his assurances and typed out a quick response.

**You—** Well still…

**You—** Thanks.

**Akira—** You can't see me, but just know that I'm doing an exaggerated bow. In any case, I need to finish my homework and head to bed. Is it bad that I'm slightly excited to return to the Metaverse?

**You—** I don't think so. I mean, for the short amount of time I was fighting in there I felt liberated.

**You—** Me and Ryuji have personal stakes, Kamoshida broke his leg and caused Shiho to jump but until you were threatened with being expelled Kamoshida hadn't really done anything to you, right?

**Akira—** Correct. But still, I feel slightly guilty that I enjoy battling Shadows and sneaking through the Palace so much.

**You—** Well, don't worry about it. We're doing the right thing, even if we are enjoying it, right?

**Akira—** Right. Thank you, it seems that this confiding relationship isn't one way.

She rolled her eyes as she smiled.

**You—** Exactly! You can text me if you ever need to get something off your chest, okay? :P

**Akira—** I'll keep that in mind. And the same to you. I need to either make Morgana a cat bed or make sure that he doesn't make sleeping in my bed weird. Good night.

She briefly wondered what Akira's room looked like, before shaking her head as she blushed slightly.

**You—** See you tomorrow!

She logged out of their private chat, putting her phone down as she refocused on her work, happily humming as she did.

* * *

**And that's where we'll be ending off. I love how my friend who reads this but hasn't played P5 yet asked me how long it'll be until we finally finish off the first dungeon (Kamoshida's Castle) when we technically haven't even finished the tutorial yet lmao. I mean, in a 100-hour game, I guess it makes sense that the tutorial/beginning is so long, getting you used to the mechanics, fighting, daytime-social simulator stuff, but man… **

**I can definitely understand though, I got introduced to P5 through a crossover and I wondered how many goddamn chapters it would take before Kamoshida's Castle would even be completed, and it racked up to- I think- around 15-ish chapters. Well, the next chapter should really be the 'finale' of the Tutorial section, and we can finally start traversing the castle and ranking up Confidants for real. **

**Writing Ryuji is fun, though it can be annoying how spell-check keeps screaming at me to fix all the spelling mistakes. They ain't mistakes, Google Docs, they're how he talks. Please stop underlining everything he says in red. It can also be a tad annoying putting in obvious mistakes whenever characters text each other since it also tries to fix that.**

**So, I got a question that asked exactly how I would be nerfing PSI for this story, because, and this isn't exactly a spoiler as he showed up in the epilogue of BBOH, Sapphire would clearly be overpowered, no matter when he appeared. Whether at the beginning, middle, or end, omega level Hope's or even Heart Bound which I made incredibly overpowered just like any other final/signature attack, such as the P3, P4, and Joker's ultimate moves, would make battles trivial. God, Myriad Truths is overpowered in Persona 5… **

**Anyway, the answer I came up with made sense in my mind, and I hope I had Morgana explain it well enough. Since the Metaverse is the mindscape of humanity, with so many people who don't believe in psychic powers, they'd be incredibly weakened. This obviously does not affect Personas with the Psy element, since that's a part of Personas, just PSI. Also, good news, my friend got me a month-early birthday present in the form of P5 Royal, and I played through it by not sleeping for three days.**

**I completed 100 hours' worth of content within 60 hours. **

**I, of course, then took a good sleep so that I could pay attention to all the new content, and plan out what needed to change in my original plans for this story, what to keep the same, etc, etc. Gotta say, absolutely loved it all. I'll probably give my opinions on what I think about the new stuff as it appears, but for now, there are already a few things I need to change up in the next chapter to match Royal lol. I still can't believe that I avoided spoilers and experienced the new content even months after Royal came out.**

**Just some short stuff that isn't spoilers- loved the new tracks, Out Of Kindness, I Believe, Throw Away Your Mask, everything was amazing. Persona always has amazing music, and I think that P3's final battle now has a contender for best final battle music. Though, the grappling hook just feels like a gimmick they added because Joker had it in Smash. Oh, sure, there are a lot of fun maneuvers he uses it for, and the Faith Arcana gives it a cool boost in Ambushing, but it still feels like it's kind of unnecessary. **

**Loved the new final boss, and of course, the Checkmate cutscene. Fucking badass. Though, I am a bit disappointed that Joker doesn't get a Third Awakening like the other Thieves. Going from Arsène to you-know-who during The Day of Reckoning and then Raoul during the Gentle Madman's battle would have been amazing, but I understand that there probably wasn't a good place to fit Raoul, which is why he's DLC. Perhaps I'll be able to figure out a way to find a way to fit him in… I can kind of think of places where it'd be appropriate for an evolution, but I'm not sure. **

**ANYWAY! leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read. See y'all next time!**


	10. Chapter 10: Execution and Rebirth

Chapter 10: Execution and Rebirth

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Akira•

_4/16, Saturday_

Adjusting his glasses, he walked down the street towards Shujin as the students around him tried to stay as far from him as they could. "Did you hear?"

"Yeah, he's getting expelled, right?"

"Yeah! Even for a guy with a criminal record, that must be the quickest that anyone's been expelled from a school!"

"Tch…"

**Do not let them get to thou. They know not of our struggles.**

"Hey, Akira, don't worry about it!" Morgana shuffled around inside his bag, poking the tip of his pink nose out. "Once we take down Kamoshida, everyone'll know just what he did!"

"Just because we'll be sending him to prison doesn't mean my criminal record will disappear, and that's what everyone is focused on," he sighed, "still, thank you."

Passing by a small area by the front of the school which held several vending machines, he overheard two girls discussing something. He heard something about being sick and worrying that it was a psychotic breakdown before her friend reassured her that they would go to a doctor.

He couldn't hear the rest of their conversation, but Morgana hummed as he entered the school and removed his shoes and put on the uwabaki they were supposed to wear. He still didn't get having to put on different footwear to enter the school, but whatever, who was he to question it? He was the foreigner here. "Hey, I thought I heard something yesterday about a customer being a doctor, right?"

"I believe so. Though, she was wearing some odd clothing for a doctor… Then again, she could wear whatever she likes when she's not working, I suppose. Why?"

"Well, I was just thinking that it would be nice to have some strong medicine while we're in the Palace."

"True… we shouldn't rely solely on Zorro and Pixie's Dia spells. Maybe…"

_Mister Joker, my Dia is totally enough to keep us going!_

_Me do not think so._

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

Listening as Ushimaru-sensei droned on, Akira tapped his pencil against his notebook quickly. He could tell that Ann was just as distracted by the way she was staring out the window and fiddling with one of her twintails. He felt a vibration in his pocket and grabbed his phone to find a new notification in the group chat from Ryuji.

**Chat Room: Akira, Ryuji, Ann**

**Ryuji— **Yo we're meeting at the hideout after school right?

**You— **Correct.

**Ann— **Don't text now, we're in class!

Upon seeing Ann's name on his screen, Morgana's tail flicked excitedly. He stared at the cat hiding in his desk deadpan, before looking back at his phone as it vibrated again.

**Ryuji****—**Ur listening 2 all this crap?

**You****—**Well, I'm certainly attempting to.

**Ann****—**Yeah, none of its sticking today.

**Ryuji****—**U too?

**Ryuji— **Anyway c u on the roof

**Ann****—**Wait, is the rooftop unlocked?

**You****—**Even if it wasn't, I did learn how to create lockpicks last night thanks to Morgana. I can either attempt to lockpick it open or simply destroy the lock with my PSI.

**Ryuji—**Yea there aint a need 4 that. I'll just let u in.

**Ryuji—**Welp i'll be waiting. Just head up when school's over.

**You****—**I'll see you all there.

**Ann****—**Got it!

**Ryuji—**I'll fine u both if ur late!

"Hey, Starr-san! Is that how you pay attention to someone who's speaking with you?!"

**Trickster, watch out!**

He blinked at Arsène's words and looked up, suddenly feeling a murderous intent. The first thing he saw was Ushimaru-sensei winding up, before a piece of chalk slammed into his forehead at incredible speeds, making his head snap back as he almost fell out of his seat.

He rubbed his forehead in pain and grumbled as whispers broke out around the room, one girl wincing at the mark on his face, right above the bridge of his glasses. "Ooh… that looked like it hurt."

Another boy snickered at his dilemma. "Damn, right in the forehead!"

Ann giggled from her seat in front of him, and he blushed in embarrassment at how dumb he'd looked in front of the beautiful girl as he rubbed the back of his neck. "That's what you get for daydreaming! Kids these days have no respect for their elders…" At that, Ushimaru-sensei returned to his lecture.

"It looks like you might need to be more proficient to dodge that chalk," Morgana whispered to him.

"Oh shut up," he mumbled back.

**I did try and warn thou.**

_C'mon, no one could have reacted that fast, Mister Arsène!_

_Hee, you might need a Dia for that one, ho!_

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

After the school day was done, Ann and he walked up to the roof, seating themselves on some desks and chairs that were close to several air conditioners. Morgana jumped out of his bag and onto one of the desks fixing his messed up fur as Ryuji pounded a fist into his hand. "Alright, we're all here! Let's get going!"

"Hold on, it's still too early for us to enter the Palace," Morgana interrupted.

"But why? Don't we just gotta steal that Treasure whatever?"

"Don't underestimate the dangers of a Palace. We should prepare."

"But ain't our Personas enough?"

"Not quite," he cut in. "Ann doesn't have a gun, like my handgun, your shotgun, or Morgana's slingshot. If we can get better equipment for all of us we will have an easier infiltration."

"If we need weapons, then I know a kickass place!"

"Of course a thug would know where to get weapons."

"Shut it, cat! It's an airsoft shop!"

"Ryuji, I'll let you handle that. Now, the other thing that we need is something I discussed with Morgana earlier. Medicine is important, even with our Personas' abilities to heal us."

"Correct. Fatigue is inevitable in a Palace. If we need to get out of a Palace but we're out of energy, medicine will come in handy. And on the other hand, we can save energy when going through a Palace by using medicine instead of our abilities."

"Well, where can we get that?"

"No need to worry, Lady Ann! Akira and I have that covered!"

He rolled his eyes at Morgana's words. "Yes, Morgana and I will handle that. There's a small clinic near where I'm staying in Yongen-Jaya, so we'll see what we can do there. The doctor there apparently has some weird, sketchy rumors surrounding her, so perhaps she could help us out."

"So… what should I do?"

Ann looked slightly disappointed that she didn't have any way to help, so he nodded towards Ryuji. "Why don't you go with Ryuji? You can pick out whatever weapon you'd like for yourself. Then, tomorrow, we'll have our first foray into the Palace. Since tomorrow is Sunday and we don't have any school, we can take our time as we go."

"Actually…" Ann winced and began playing with one of her twintails. "I already made plans to go see Shiho at the hospital…"

"That's fine. But from now on, let's all make sure that we know each other's schedules and plan around them. We have about two weeks to make this work, we don't want to fall behind."

"Thanks, Akira," Ann smiled.

"Alright, then let's get you a weapon!" Ryuji grinned and stood up, Ann following him. "See you!"

The two blonds left the roof, and Morgana flicked his tail in annoyance. "Hmph, that Ryuji doesn't know how lucky he is, getting to spend time with Lady Ann!"

He rolled his eyes as he stood up as well, letting Morgana hop back into his bag. He didn't especially care if Morgana kept trying to woo Ann, since she was clearly not interested, but the problem was that any problems within their group, whether from Morgana becoming dejected by continuously being rejected by the girl, or Ann becoming fed up with Morgana's advances, could make it much more difficult to stop Kamoshida. He'd have to put an end to that if anything similar began occurring.

For now, though, there was nothing to be done. He walked down the stairs and towards the station that would lead back to Yongen-Jaya. It was time for a checkup.

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Takemi•

Takemi placed several ingredients into a drawer by her desk, before writing down the results on a pad as she sat down. Another failure.

The door opened, but she ignored whoever it was. They were probably lost, and once they realized that this wasn't wherever they wanted to be, they'd leave. Not many came to her clinic for any other rea-

"Excuse me? Are you the doctor in charge of this clinic?" She glanced up in surprise and looked at the boy who had walked in. Black school uniform, black hair, and silver eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses… was he wearing colored contacts? And on his back was a bag with a black cat poking its head out.

She blinked, before asking "...Is this your first visit?" Wait, he looked familiar. "Have I seen you somewhere before?"

"Yes, at Leblanc. I just moved into the area, so I'm new here."

"Huh. Well, what are you here for today?"

"I've just recently joined a sports team at my new school, do you have any medicine that can energize me? The school is rather prestigious, and I'm already having trouble keeping up with the workloads that my classes have given me alongside the practices I need to go to…"

She stared at him for a few seconds silently. He didn't seem like he was lying… But her paranoia was telling her something was wrong. "Fine. Please head into the exam room, to your right." He smiled and thanked her, before entering the room. She watched him go, before entering the room through the door on her side. She found him sitting patiently on a stool and sat down in her chair, turning on her computer. "Now then, energizing medicine?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Alright, give me a moment here. I have a couple of questions for you first. Are you feeling stressed out due to the workload from school? Any anxiety?"

There was a brief moment where he didn't answer, but she couldn't be sure whether it was him trying to either think up or remember whatever cover story he'd come up with, or was simply taking a moment to think. "A bit, yes. I sometimes can't fall asleep after finishing my work and end up tossing and turning for part of the night, even though I feel tired, and that leads me to be tired the next day."

"Alright. I'm going to prescribe some pain-killers then. They can help with anxiety." She saw him nod, but there was still something nagging at her. "Hm, actually I still need to restock those… Let's go with sleep medication. Sleep is the best medicine, and that's where your problems are coming from, right? Now, would you rather a sweet-tasting pill, or a bitter-tasting one?"

The boy's cat meowed, almost seeming like it was annoyed with the boy, while the boy twitched before smiling. "I'd rather the sweet-tasting one, please." The cat yowled and covered its face with its paws, and she shot it a bewildered look.

After getting over the cat's weird behavior, she shook her head. "Anyway, let's stop beating around the bush. You aren't sick at all, right? You're simply here because of the odd rumors surrounding my clinic."

To the boy's credit, he didn't start stammering excuses or try to double down. He smiled slightly, leaning forward and interlocking his fingers. "So, are those rumors true?"

"Who's to say? But as a result, all I get are patients with ulterior motives now… if I get them at all. I suppose high school students have it tough nowadays, too, huh?" The boy chuckled at her words. "Well, fine, I'll prescribe you some medicine. But only stuff that'll help you recover your health." The boy raised an eyebrow, and she explained. "I guess it's fine. You seem earnest enough, and you don't look like you'll get into any trouble. If you are telling the truth about feeling anxiety from your schoolwork, it's not like I could ignore that."

"Hm. So, what about the rumors about you making your own medicine? I would assume that that isn't allowed since that could be rather dangerous."

"Yes, all the medicine I dispense is original. You need a license to do so, and you've probably seen them being sold at various hospitals. Anyway, it's your responsibility to take care of yourself. If that's okay with you, feel free to stop by anytime."

"That'll be very helpful, thank you, doctor…?"

"Takemi. And it's good that you're quick on the uptake. Saves me the hassle. What about you?"

"Thank you, Takemi-sensei. Do you prefer hakase or sensei? I'm Starr Akira."

"Either. You're a pretty weird kid, Starr-san. I wonder… are you telling the truth and will simply use the medicine for your work? Or are you using it for something else?" He grinned and shrugged, causing a smile to break out on her face as she chuckled. "Well, as long as you don't cause me any trouble, it's not my problem." She grabbed a clipboard and handed it over, letting him look it over. "This is what I've got right now. Descriptions of what they do are beneath the medicine names. Feel free to take your time."

Starr-san took it and began reading, before taking the pen from the top and checking off which medicine he wanted and writing down the quantity. She let him continue as she worked on her computer for a short bit before he handed it back. She began gathering the medicine he'd asked for, three pill bottles worth of fifty milligram Recov-R, a tube of Relax Gel, and a tube of Nohar-M.

When she got back he had taken out the money he needed to pay her, and after making sure it was the right amount, she handed over the medicine. He smiled as he put it in his bag, while his cat moved over to make some room. "Thank you very much, Takemi-sensei."

"...Take care." The boy exited the room and she watched him go. An interesting kid to be sure… She went back to working on her computer, only for the door to open again. She looked towards it, expecting to see Starr-san, only for it to be a familiar annoying man in a suit with a briefcase. She sighed, leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs. "What's the reason for your visit? Do you have a cold? Stomachache? Perhaps athlete's foot? Whatever it is, I believe you have to take a number."

"Enough of this, you know why I'm here!" He slammed his hands down on her desk, and she glanced at him in annoyance. "You're the only one who could have developed that kind of medicine!"

"I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about. Would you like a lollipop?" Of course, she didn't have any, but anything to piss the man off sounded nice to her.

"Oh don't play dumb with me. I've heard the rumors! A drug so potent that it could give a person unlimited power."

"Really? Sounds useful."

The man scoffed at her deadpan tone as she turned back to her work. "Developing experimental drugs, medicine, and herbal remedies violates all health regulations. Are you attempting to create a super-stimulant? A drug like that will only cause a social issue."

She turned back to him, furrowing her brow. "You're really persistent, you know that? I'm just a quack, right?"

"The police may not be taking action, but I imagine the media will soon pick up on it. If you're intending to ruin my reputation again, then you won't get away with it. You're a disgrace to the medical community." She felt the pen in her hand bend as she clenched it in frustration. This asshole… She turned to glare at him, and he scoffed. "What's with that look? That was your mistake, was it not?"

"You listen here-!"

"I won't be responsible for your criminal actions. Dispose of that 'medicine' immediately and resign. The name 'Tae Takemi' will never-" As the asshole grabbed his suitcase and turned towards the door, they both saw a shadow through the dark window on it. "Hey, is somebody there?!" The shadow vanished, and she rolled her eyes. That was probably just Starr-san, curious about what the yelling had been about. Whatever, it was good he got out of there.

"Now, are we done here? Are you leaving?"

"Hmph. Just keep what I said in mind. Get rid of that medicine, and shut down this clinic." At that, the man exited the room and clinic, while she leaned back in her chair and groaned.

Well wasn't this just perfect.

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Akira•

"So we'll be asking that doctor about that special medicine next time?"

"Correct. Though keep in mind it could just be yet another rumor. But if it was real, that experimental medicine could be an incredible boon to us in Kamoshida's Palace."

"Yeah! Okay, let's make sure to come back another day when that other guy isn't there. We've got to keep our operations secret, after all! By the way, great work in there!"

"I told you to trust me, didn't I?" He chuckled. "You should know by now that I'm quite good at lying."

Morgana shuffled around in his bag and nodded. "Yeah, I was starting to doubt you when you didn't try and keep up the act, but I guess it all worked out!"

"Indeed. Now, Ryu texted that it was down an alley on Central Street past the sweets shop…" Currently they were heading towards the model gun store that Ryuji had told them about since the blond had texted them that they had trouble getting the owner of the shop to sell them guns. He turned down the alley he thought was correct, and after turning around a second corner he found Ryuji and Ann waiting for him outside a small shop called 'Untouchable.'

"Yo, Akira!" Ryuji waved them over, with Ann looking over at his call. "What're we supposed to do now?"

"First, would you mind explaining exactly what it is that occurred? Why isn't the owner selling you any guns?"

"Ryuji had to run his mouth, and the guy behind the counter got suspicious of us," Ann sighed.

"Really? Nice work, numbskull."

"Watch it, cat, it ain't my fault I don't know shit about guns!"

"Morgana, Ryuji, enough!" Morgana huffed and Ryuji muttered a 'sorry' as he crossed his arms. "We won't get anywhere by arguing. Going by what you just said, the man wouldn't sell you any guns because you didn't know anything about them?"

"Yeah…" Ryuji rubbed the back of his head. "I tried to get the guy to sell us guns by saying I liked collecting models, but he called my bluff and said the place was for enthusiasts. I even bought crap from there last week!"

"He thought that Ryuji was going to use the model guns to try holding people up," Ann cut in with a roll of her eyes.

"I can work with that. Ann, what kind of gun were you thinking of getting?"

"Uh, I don't know. I guess a submachine gun?"

"Alright, both of you come with me." he pushed open the door of the shop and looked around. The place was filled with military gear, though it was all obviously models, and there was even a vending machine filled with military-themed snacks… though he wasn't quite sure what counted as military snacks.

The man behind the counter was reading a book and didn't glance up as they walked up. He waited for a minute, before clearing his throat. "Sir?"

The man looked back up, raising an eyebrow. "I thought I told you I won't be selling anything to you."

He interrupted before Ryuji could start shouting. "Excuse me, but I think there's been a misunderstanding here. I'm the reason that my friend was attempting to buy several model weapons."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes, you might remember that he bought a Tkachev handgun and a Levinson M31 the last time he had come. I'm an enthusiast for weapons, and I had wanted to get my friends into my hobby as well. I apologize if my friend might have said anything rude. I had planned on buying my other friend here a Sterlidge submachine gun, the one used by the British army back in the forties? That is if you carried a model of it."

The man raised an eyebrow at him, before placing his newspaper aside. "Huh, guess you're the real deal, then. But before anything, some precautions for your friends." The man glared at Ann and Ryuji. "Don't go 'round pointing 'em at other people. Keep 'em in a bag or somethin' when you're outside. Oh, and don't let the fuzz catch wind of you havin' 'em. I don't need them comin' round here."

"Don't worry, sir, I'll make sure my friends are careful."

Ann nodded, "Yeah, totally!"

"Yeah, alright…"

Seeing their agreements, the shopkeeper nodded. "Good. Now, if you look close, you'll be able to tell these're models. Real guns feel… different." He wasn't sure how the surly man knew what a real gun felt like, but he ignored that and made sure that Ryuji and Ann were paying attention. "Maybe I'll show you all the real good stuff someday if you got the guts for it."

"As interested as I am, I'm simply trying to get my friends into my hobby for now. Perhaps the beginner's catalog would be best."

The man nodded, wandering off to grab a Sterlidge and a catalog for them to look through. Ryuji nudged him as soon as the man left, "dude, you did it! Holy shit!"

"How do you know so much about guns?" Ann questioned.

"I'm from Eagleland," he spoke. "Guns are in my blood. In all seriousness, I simply enjoy studying anything and everything, so I had some basic knowledge and made sure to name one that not many would know about. I'll need to study them more if I want to keep up the image of an enthusiast."

"Well, for now, it worked in our favor!" Morgana purred.

After getting Ann her gun, they walked out of the store. "Alright, starting Monday, our mission begins. Remember to keep everyone's schedules in mind. We only have a couple of weeks to take down Kamoshida."

"Yeah! Whenever you're ready just gimmie a call and we'll meet up on the roof!"

"Me too. He's going to pay for what he's done…"

"Hear that, Akira? Looks like our team is ready to go!"

**And a good team it is. We Personas are ready as well… whenever thou wishes to begin.**

He smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I hope Kamoshida's ready for what's coming… because the dethronement of a King is soon at hand."

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

_4/18, Monday_

**DEADLINE: MAY 2ND**

**DAYS UNTIL EXPULSION: 14**

**Steal Kamoshida's heart**

"Good morning. Hurry up and get to class!" He scowled as Kamoshida smiled at a student walking past, standing by the school gates, and greeting people as they entered the school. Kamoshida turned and spotted him, his smile immediately dropping into a more neutral expression while he schooled his face to look blank. "Good morning."

"...Morning." He walked past, doing his level best not to let any more emotions show on his face. He prided himself on his self-control, after all.

...Besides the incident in the PE Office where he nearly killed Kamoshida… Yes, that was a bit embarrassing.

Kamoshida watched him walk past, crossing his arms with a scoff. "That admirable good behavior won't do you any good once you're expelled." He looked at the man out of the corner of his eyes, reigning himself in.

"We'll see." He looked forward and entered the school. Just keep calm, and let all those festering emotions out onto the Shadows and Shadow Kamoshida himself… It would all be worth it.

It wasn't easy, however, when Kawakami-sensei immediately called out to him once homeroom had finished. Students began whispering to each other as he left the room, following behind the pretty, brown-haired teacher, wondering if he'd done anything else illegal.

He tried his best to ignore them, and they began walking towards the guidance counselor's office, Kawakami turning back towards him as they went. "There's something I'd like to ask you. Don't worry, it won't take long."

Before she could reach forward and open the door, it was opened for her, and out walked- **Not the false king again… **Kamoshida exited the room, and he made sure to look away and hide the irritation that was likely flashing across his face.

Seeing them, Kamoshida smiled at Kawakami and nodded. "I see you're already getting on top of the problem I'd mentioned this morning! I appreciate the support."

"Thank you again." Blinking, he directed his gaze towards the person who spoke and was surprised to see a familiar red-headed girl standing next to Kamoshida and the guidance counselor. He likely hadn't noticed her due to his focus on the gym coach but nodded at her in recognition. They'd only met briefly, on the train to school a few days prior, and on the platform shortly after.

Seeing that she recognized him, Kamoshida raised an eyebrow. "You know him, Yoshizawa-san?" He mentally noted her name, all while grimacing and waiting for whatever slander Kamoshida would speak next.

"Yes, he lent me a helping hand the other day!"

Sighing with feigned sadness, Kamoshida shook his head. "I recommend you steer clear of the likes of him if you have any consideration for your future. Remember the discussion we just had? There are a number of students in this school you shouldn't get involved with. This one's at the top of the list."

"Oh, the delinquent transfer student?" Immediately after she spoke, Yoshizawa winced, clearly not having meant to say her thoughts out loud.

"Nice to meet you," he mumbled under his breath, trying not to glare at Kamoshida and stir up trouble.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I need to use the guidance office."

"Oh, pardon me. We should be going too- don't want to get in the way of guiding this delinquent and all."

"Um, please excuse us." Yoshizawa quickly bowed and followed after the coach and counselor, while Kawakami waved her hand towards the office.

"After you."

He couldn't focus on the resulting conversation, too frustrated with Kamoshida. **Patience. He will get what he is owed. **Yeah, patience… he just needed to keep his cool until school was over…

Of course, that wasn't exactly easy in Shujin Academy. Classes were as boring and annoying as usual, teachers picking on him, trying to get the 'troubled delinquent' to mess up, and every time the students were baffled that he was able to answer their questions flawlessly, causing him even more frustration from the fact that they thought so lowly of him. Honestly, was it really that difficult to see that he wasn't a criminal and that he was a studious boy that followed the rules?

Well, it seemed like that's what a criminal record could do to someone's life. Whatever. It's not like they were entirely wrong, after all. His knife and model gun sat at the bottom of his bag, buried under school supplies, ready to draw the blood of the Shadows…

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

"Alright! I'm gonna bust loose!"

He smirked at Ryuji's boast, feeling the confidence that his thief attire and mask granted him as he tapped the Metaverse Navigator and dragged them all into the Metaverse. Shujin was once again replaced by the sick bastard's castle, while the sky became overcast with purple and red clouds.

Having hid in the alleyway next to the school so no one would be dragged in, they approached the drawbridge once more. He stared up at the various towers that pierced the sky, thinking. They had barely explored any of Kamoshida's castle so far, just the dungeons and the main floor. Even then, just the main hall and part of a side hall. If he was going to hazard a guess, then the treasure would either be in the center of the castle or atop one of the towers.

"But daaaamn…" he turned around at Skull's mutter and saw the boy staring at Ann's outfit. Mostly her cleavage window.

"Huh? What's up?"

He rolled his eyes as Skull stuttered and rubbed the back of his head at Ann's question. "N-Nothing. I was just thinking that we should come up with a code name for you too."

"Code name?"

"Correct! To make sure we don't accidentally affect Kamoshida's cognition of us while we're here, we need code names to call each other," Mona explained.

"Ryuji is Skull, Morgana is Mona, and I'm Joker."

"Why Joker?"

"Because he can use multiple Personas, of course! Plus, his psychic abilities make him even more versatile! He's like the joker in a deck of cards."

"Plus, his mask kinda looks like a clown mask, right?"

"Skull, it looks nothing like a clown mask."

Ignoring his and Skull's byplay, Mona looked up and down Ann's costume. "Let's see… judging by your costume…"

Ryuji hummed as he observed her too. "Well, she's got that tail and stuff, plus her cat mask, so… Whadda you think, Joker?"

"Sexy Cat," he spoke deadpan. Skull began laughing, while Sexy Cat took a step back.

"Wait, is that what you're calling me from now on?! I am _so _not down for that!"

"Kitty Woman?"

Kitty Woman stomped her foot, accidentally cracking the pavement slightly thanks to her Persona-enhanced strength. "Not that either!"

"Alright, fine." Skull finished laughing and grinned at her. "Whadda ya want to be called then?"

"Hm… well, something better than just a tiny cat… maybe 'Panther?' That sounds pretty cool, doesn't it?"

"Huh? Why?"

"'Cause it sounds more… ferocious?"

Mona smiled dreamily. "She's a cougar…"

"Don't call me that!" He had to turn away to hide the wide grin that grew on his face as he tried not to burst into laughter. Skull didn't even try to hide his snorts. "Whatever. More importantly… Kamoshida."

Skull composed himself, nodding. "Right. Ready, Joker?"

"Yes. Let's go." He led the way across the drawbridge, Skull, Panther, and Mona following behind him. Before they could reach their infiltration point, however, a bright flash of blue light drew his attention, and he turned to see a blue jail door appear out of nowhere. Standing next to it while holding her clipboard was Justine, who stared at him calmly.

"My master would like a word with you." He looked back at his friends, which Justine noticed. "Do not worry. To them, you will simply appear to be standing in a trance."

"Right. Okay then." He walked into the doorway, and even though it was simply a door connected to nothing, when he came out the other side he was somehow in the Velvet Room. He blinked when he saw that Justine had somehow gotten inside and was on the other side of the bars even though she should have entered after he did, before he walked forward to lean against the door of his cell. "Back once more…"

"The prisoner has returned," Caroline reported, turning towards Igor.

"Well done. It seems you have remembered my words… you truly make it worth rehabilitating you." As Igor spoke, he noticed two new cards sitting on Igor's desk. The first had a design with a man holding two women close as they caressed his chest, and an angel holding a bow with a heart-shaped arrow above them. Atop the card was the Roman numeral for six, VI, and below it was the word L'Amoureux, which he was fairly sure meant The Lovers. Below the card was a silver nameplate with Ann's name.

The second card had a man standing behind a table with various tools and what seemed to be a knife and bloodstain on it, while atop the card was the Roman numeral for one, I, while below the card was Le • Bateleur. On another silver nameplate, Morgana's name was displayed. "What does that even mean?" He questioned Igor on his words of 'Rehabilitation.'

"Haha… do not worry, I am not attempting to withhold knowledge from you. The essence of the rehabilitation you must complete will be explained in due time. Once you encounter friends who share your aesthetics and discover your place in reality… only then will I explain it all. But such a day should not be far off."

"As long as it's explained… so, what did you need from me? We were about to start our true foray into Kamoshida's Palace."

"I simply wish to introduce you to the aid we have been promising to provide." Seeing the interest on his face, Igor's grin somehow became wider. "You are a wielder of the Wild Card… it is a representation of the number zero, just as the Tarot Card of the Fool: empty, yet filled with limitless and infinite possibilities. It allows you to hold more than one Persona."

"Right, I figured out I could do that already. Besides Arsène, I have Pixie, Jack-o'-Lantern, Bicorn, and Mandrake. But I guess now I know why I can."

"Indeed. But, we will assist you in nurturing this power, through the process of executing your Persona."

He was immediately a bit concerned at the word 'execute.' "Uh, yeah, what the hell does that even mean? I know whenever my Personas are hurt I feel pain, even if I don't gain any injuries, so how the hell?"

"Hahaha… that is in battle. Our methods will bring no pain to your mind. It will be quite the opposite. Besides this, Personas are personalities that exist within you. Thus, you will only be discarding old personalities to have them be reborn as new ones. By discarding your old identity, you give way to a new one. Hence, we call that process 'execution.' You may think of this process as the fusion of your Personas."

**I still do not quite like it…**

He mentally agreed with Arsène, before asking, "So, how exactly does this fusion make them stronger?"

Justine explained for Igor. "By fusing weaker Personas, you create a more powerful one, with all-new skills as well as the skills the previous Personas wielded. For example, your Mandrake can use Pulinpa. If you wanted a more powerful Persona but wanted to keep that spell, simply fusing Mandrake with another of your Personas and choosing to keep the Pulinpa spell would create such a Persona."

"Alright… one last question then. Arsène. He's my true other self, right? While my other Personas are personalities in the sea of souls, Arsène was born from mine, right? What will happen to him if I fuse him?"

"Do not worry. As he is your other self, your true Persona if you will, he will always exist within the depths of your subconscious mind, even after being fused away. Alongside this, if you ever wish to bring back a Persona that you have fused away, you can use the Compendium to bring them back… for a price."

"Compendium?"

Justine slipped her clipboard through his cell's bars, handing it to him. Looking down at it, he blinked when he saw a moving picture of Arsène on the top page, with a description of him, detailed numbers, and even his spells and affinities. "What're the numbers?"

"To make it easier for you to understand, I have simplified a Persona's power into 'stats' if you will. They represent how much stronger, durable, agile, and lucky a Persona will make you when you have them equipped."

Oh, now he got it. Just as Justine said, his power was separated into five different columns, one for his physical strength and magical power, one for his endurance, another his agility, and the last, as she said, luck. He could see that Arsène made him more agile and stronger as he had thought, but it seemed that the thief was more inclined to magic rather than force. While his magic was rated at a 'six,' his strength was only a 'four.'

Interested, he began reading Arsène's description within the Compendium. 'A being based off the main character of Maurice Leblanc's novels, Arsène Lupin. He appears everywhere and is a master of disguise. He is known to help law-abiding citizens.' **I'd say that's about correct. **Ignoring Arsène, he flipped the page and beheld one that described Bicorn.

'An evil creature with two curving horns. It represents impurity, unlike the Unicorn. Said to be derived from Re'em in the Bible. Another legend says that it feeds off of disloyal husbands.' It seemed like Bicorn was stronger than Arsène as well, though only physically. His strength was a 'five,' but magic was a 'three.' His endurance was higher too, but luck and agility seemed lower.

"Hey, what are these question marks?" Looking at the paper he could see the skills that they knew, such as Arsène's Eiha and Cleave ability, but then there were question marks below them.

"They represent skills that your Personas will eventually learn. I suggest fusing away a Persona once they have learned all they can, otherwise you would be wasting your time with them."

"Hm… Alright, so, fusion?"

Justine took the clipboard and flipped the pages once more, revealing a list of his Personas before handing it back. "To start, select the first Persona you wish to fuse." Looking at the list, he pointed at Bicorn and yelped when a new list appeared next to the first. Atop the second list was the word 'result,' and he guessed that whichever Persona was there was what the fused Personas would become.

"Before you fuse, allow me to explain something vital." Igor folded his hands and grinned. The long-nosed man explained how through something called 'Arcana Burst', any Personas that he created through fusion could grow exponentially stronger, depending on how close he was with a Confidant, and how he could not create a Persona stronger than he was, lest risk his destruction.

Shivering at that thought, he looked down at the second list. Fusing with Arsène would create something called a Silky, but he wasn't sure about getting rid of the thief just yet. Fusing with Pixie created a Slime, though its name was blacked out so he assumed it was too powerful for him to fuse.

With Mandrake he would create a Kelpie, though he wasn't quite sure what that was, and with Jack-o'-Lantern he would create a Saki Mitama. Tapping Kelpie he saw that it could use Garu like Morgana's Zorro, and a Lunge attack, and it looked to be some kind of horse that was missing its back legs, and instead had a longer mane flowing from there. However, it wouldn't gain an Arcana Burst due to being of the Strength Arcana, and he had no bonds with whoever would represent that.

Tapping on Saki Mitama, however, excited him. It knew Bufu, which was described as an ice move, something nobody on their team knew. Plus, it had a spell called Energy Drop that could cure various ailments and Wind Wall which would help with Ryuji's weakness to wind. It looked like a golden teardrop on its side, with a female's smiling face. Another boon was that it was of the Lovers Arcana, and would gain the Arcana Boost thanks to his bond with Ann.

Having decided on Saki Mitama, he looked at its description and affinities. It looked like it was neutral to everything except ice, which it resisted, and electric, which it was weak too. 'One of the four aspects of Shinto thought, it brings great bounty from the hunt. It is said to aid in love, profit, and growth, and can create new paths.' "Alright, I've decided."

"Wonderful. Now, choose the abilities you would like it to keep from its component Personas." Looking over Bicorn and Jack-o'-Lantern's abilities, he knew which he wanted. Between Lunge, Agi, Tarunda, and Rakunda, he wanted to keep Tarunda and Rakunda. Ryuji's Captain Kidd already had Lunge, while Ann's Carmen specialized in the flaming Agi move. Tarunda, which would weaken an opponents attack power, and Rakunda, which would weaken the opponent's defenses, would be much more useful.

Tapping the skills, and absentmindedly likening the paper clipboard to an iPad with how it was reacting to his fingers, he looked at Igor. "What now?"

"Now? Now, the fusion begins…" suddenly, he felt an absence in his head. Searching through his mind, he found that Bicorn and Jack-o'-Lantern had vanished. Refocusing on the Velvet Room, his mouth became dry. Igor and his desk had vanished, and in their place were two massive guillotines. As the blades were hoisted up, he could see Bicorn and Jack-o'-Lantern kneeling behind the holes. Justine and Caroline approached them, grabbing blue sheets and throwing them over the Persona's heads.

As they struggled, the Velvet Twins dragged the Personas forward, sticking their heads through the slots and securing them in place. Stepping back, the blades fell, and he winced as his Personas heads were chopped off, exploding into black ooze. However, instead of splattering everywhere, the ooze flowed through the air, followed by glowing white and blue strands, and combined in front of his cell. It created a large orb of light, which exploded out to reveal the form of Saki Mitama.

"_I am Saki Mitama. Love and Sympathy are all you need in life. I shall become your mask and guide you to intense passion."_ The Persona turned into a mask and flew into his face, and with a blink of his eyes the guillotines were gone, and Igor and his desk had returned.

"…What the fuck? Did you just cut off Berith and Jack-o'-Lantern's heads?! The shit was that?!"

Caroline laughed at him. "Scared, inmate? That's just how executions and Fusion work!"

**That was… quite interesting. A useful tool, yet one I request you do not use on me for some time.**

"Gather Personas, strengthen them, and bring them here to fuse into more powerful Personas. That is our aid," Igor chuckled.

"Alright, that's all we needed you for, inmate! Now get lost!" He waited for the usual blackout that led to him exiting the Velvet Room, but when nothing happened he looked around in confusion. Now, at the back of his cell, a glowing white doorway existed, likely the exit. It seemed that, as long as he entered the Velvet Room through his free will and wasn't pulled in through his dreams, he would be able to use the door at the back of his cell to exit.

He walked through it, blinded for a brief moment, before he found himself back at the courtyard of Kamoshida's Castle, his prison clothing gone and replaced with his Thief Attire. "Hey, Joker, come on! What're you doing just staring into space?"

He looked back to see Justine still standing next to the doorway into the Velvet Room calmly, before turning back to Mona. It seemed like they really couldn't see it. "I was just thinking for a moment. Now, let's go!"

As they dashed towards the vent that they used to enter the castle, Arsène rumbled inside his mind. **The Velvet Room… quite the mysterious place.**

_I certainly don't enjoy how I can't communicate inside there at all!_

_It's really unsettling, Joker._

He hummed, realizing there was truth to his Personas words. When in the Velvet Room only Arsène had spoken. Of course, his other Personas were silent much of the time, but it was odd that none of them expressed worry about seeing guillotines or the execution of Bicorn and Jack-o'-Lantern.

In any case, they were finally going to make some progress into Kamoshida's Palace. And at the same time, he could see just how useful his newly-fused Persona would be. _I promise to be as useful as I can be, _Saki Mitama serenely commented within his mind.

"Come on, get your head in the game, Joker!" Skull grinned and punched him on the shoulder, causing him to smirk back at his teammate.

"Yeah, I need to stay focused to keep your asses from getting into trouble."

"Hey!" He dashed forward, leading them into the dark halls of the castle for their first, _true_, infiltration.

* * *

**Love how fusion works in P5. Really, I love all the Velvet Room executions, they're all great, especially when they fail and you get a Fusion Accident. Besides getting an Uber-powerful Person from accidents, the animation for them is hilarious.**

**I was pretty surprised that P3 and 4 had fusion just using the Tarot Cards, but I guess the executions match 5's Velvet Room design and all that. Also, I'm obviously not going to delve into stats and all that whenever Akira creates a new Persona, just wanted to try rationalizing Persona stats for fun. At most, there'll probably just be the lore of the Persona. Going into the whole fusion process every time would be so tedious, for me to write and for readers to slog through lol.**

**Plus, if I wrote out my usual Velvet Room visits as they occur in the game, it'd probably be an 8,000-word chapter of Akira fusing every one of his on-hand Personas to fill out the compendium before buying the necessary ones back, and then trying to figure out for thirty straight minutes how to make the Perfect Yoshitsune, Max Magic Kaguya Picaro, or abusing Fusion Alarms to make Elizabeth's Pixie. As fun as using the weakest Persona in the game to wreck a Palace Ruler's shit in is, the tedious fusing process would likely be boring to read.**

**Beyond that, we meet Takemi and the owner of Untouchable, both great characters. Can't wait to learn more about them lol. I also can't wait to write more actual battling! Ah, and Yoshizawa. I can't believe her first introduction was so soon into the beginning of the game. I don't recall the exact date, but it was damn quick. At least she appears on the eighteenth so I could write that interaction. I'll probably give my thoughts on characters when their confidants are finished so I don't have to worry about spoiling them, but she's a pretty good one. **

**Oh, and sorry about being a few days late with this one. I was a bit busy lol. Anyway, leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read.**


	11. Chapter 11: An Eye For The Future

Chapter 11: An Eye For The Future

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Akira•

He crept forward, hiding his body behind a barrel as he eyed a guard patrolling the small room. It was currently walking towards his hiding spot, and about to pass where Skull was hiding, so he nodded at his lightning-wielding partner-in-crime.

Nodding back, Skull summoned his melee weapon and readied himself, before bashing the knight in the knees as he passed. "Ha! Weren't expecting that, were ya?!"

As the knight yelled and fell, he dashed forward and grabbed its mask, ripping it off to reveal two Bicorns and a Mandrake. "Panther!"

"On it! Let's dance, Carmen!" Rolling out of where she had hidden, Panther ripped off her bright red cat mask to summon Carmen, who turned the Mandrake to goop with a single Agi. "Alright!"

_Oh, my turn, my turn!_

He smirked, switching mentally to Pixie and removing his mask at the same time Skull did. Captain Kidd and his Pixie manifested next to one another, blasting the enemy Bicorns with two Zio bolts. One immediately turned to goop thanks to Pixie's attack, while the one that Captain Kidd targeted simply fell to the ground, stunned.

"They're down!"

He grinned at Mona's call, pulling out his gun and pointing it at the black horse. His fellow thieves followed along, surrounding it. "Fork over the cash."

"O-Okay! Just do not shoot! Me do not want to die…" Even though it didn't have any hands, it somehow managed to throw money at them, the coins clattering along the ground before it dashed away into the darkness.

As he knelt and gathered the money, Skull crossed his arms. "I kinda wanted to do an All-Out Attack there…"

"Of course a thug like you would think like that."

"What was that?!"

"It would have been a waste of energy, Skull. There was only one Shadow left, after all! It was definitely a smarter move to ask them for money."

He nodded at Mona's words, even though the maybe-cat had explained his actions condescendingly. "He's right, Skull. If it's a bigger group, we definitely would have gone all out."

"What I want to know is why all those effects happen when we use an All-Out Attack." Panther rubbed their back of her head in confusion. "I mean, we all have those weird words that appear behind us and get a really strong urge to pose and say a catchphrase, right? Plus, Mona pulls a chair out of nowhere!"

"Yeah, yeah, I want to know that too! Where the hell do you pull that spinny chair from?!"

As they stalked through the halls, he made sure to keep a watch for more Shadows, though admittedly he was listening a bit, interested in the explanation. "Well, it's just another effect from the cognition of the world. In hero shows, whenever they pull off a finishing move they pose and say something cool, right?"

Mona paused as he motioned for him to quiet down, watching as a Shadow knight walked by. When it was gone they continued forward. "Well, the All-Out Attack is our super cool finisher, and whoever lands the last hit is going to be influenced by everyone's cognition to pose and say a catchphrase. The excess energy from our cognition usually becomes the background and the words on the background, sometimes even an item to help with our pose! Like for me, it makes the chair!"

"That is so incredibly idiotic," he muttered as they began climbing a spiral staircase to the castle's next floor, shaking his head.

**It is rather cool though.**

_And since Mister Arsène is your true thoughts, you think it's pretty cool too!_

"Oh shut up…" Finding a long hallway filled with small sofas and patrolled by a guard, he slid into cover behind a chair. He motioned for everyone to follow his lead and get into cover, watching as the guard got closer. The moment that the guard was in range, he leaped up and onto its head, gripping its mask.

"What the?!"

"I'll reveal your true form!" As he ripped it off the guard exploded into goo and he did a backflip to safety, while the team surrounded the three Pixies that burst out of it. "Arsène, ravage them!" He switched to the thief Persona, unleashing an Eiha that sent one Pixie crashing to the floor with a cry, before grinning at Panther. "Ready up, Panther, I'm passing the baton!"

"Right!" He placed his hand in his pocket and high-fived her with the other, powering her up and causing red flames to burst to life around her, without her even needing to summon Carmen. Pulling out her Sterlidge submachine gun from god knows where, considering her bodysuit didn't have pockets and was skintight, she pulled the trigger and began unloading bullets into the small Shadows.

Most of the bullets missed and pinged off of the walls and ceiling, causing Skull and Mona to yelp and cover their heads as the bullets rebounded and flew past them. However, a few did impact with the Pixies still floating in the air, sending them crashing to the ground. "All-Out Attack!"

Panther grinned at his call-out, grabbing her whip and cracking it. "Let's finish this!" All four of them bound forward, striking and slashing and cutting, eliminating all three shadows in one fell swoop. As the dust died down Panther landed gracefully, spinning and sticking a peace sign out. "A Beautiful Rose Has Thorns!"

Panther paused after realizing what she was doing and shook her head. "Wow, that really feels natural."

"Tell me about it…"

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

They eventually came upon a small room with nothing notable inside of it, besides a cage in the center with a table within it. "Hey, what's this all about? I thought the dungeons were in the basement!"

"This obviously isn't a prison cell, Skull." Mona sighed and shook his head as he looked at the cage. "I think I can see something on that table, Joker, can you tell what it is?"

He squinted as he leaned against the bars. "Well, it looks kind of like a map."

"A map? That's it? Kinda lame…"

"Well, a map would be pretty useful in here, right? I mean, we don't know the layout of this place, right?"

"Mwehehe, I knew Lady Ann would be able to see how important a map is, unlike you, Skull."

"Hey, I-I know that maps are important! It's just, uh… I thought that it would be a pretty lame thing to keep in a cage! A treasure chest woulda made more sense!"

"It doesn't even matter what it is if we can't get to it." He stepped back and looked around the room, trying to find any way that they could open the cages. All along the cage were several goat heads with chains coming from their mouths, likely handles.

"Joker, what's up? Did you spot a way to open this?"

Seeing where he was looking, Panther began playing with one of her twintails. "But, which one? It's not like all of them would open the cage, right?"

"No, it's likely that most of them are traps. Joker, is there any way that you could check them? Use your Psychic powers in some way?"

"Oh, yeah! Blast it with your laser things!"

"I don't think Rebellion is going to be blasting anything open any time soon."

"He's right, Skull. Not even our Personas could tear open these bars. It's because Kamoshida sees his castle as impenetrable that we won't be able to bust down walls or anything similar unless it's a specific area where his cognition is weaker."

While Mona was right about the cognition making the castle incredibly durable, there was also the fact that being in the Metaverse severely weakened his PSI. Though, what about something else… He had briefly been able to heal Shiho when he'd pushed his body to do so, but he could tell that it wouldn't be natural for him. His power was not one for healing.

But, even if he couldn't heal, he could try using it differently. He closed his eyes and focused, feeling at the power that was so similar, yet so different to that of his Personas. Now that he actively focused on it, he could feel it coursing through his veins, calm and subtle, but ready to be called to the surface should he need it.

The only question now was how. He didn't want to use Rebellion and blow up everything, he needed to… to what? To find out the secret to getting into the cage. Which chain was the right to pull… he needed to see the answer.

Feeling his PSI pulse up into his eyes, he breathed out calmly, slowly opening them and gazing out at the world. Everything, from his teammates to the walls and the bars of the cell, to the ground and the ceiling was now black. He could still see edges and objects, he wouldn't accidentally bump into anything, but everything was just dark.

However, something stood out. On the table in the cage, he could see the map glowing softly gold, and the ground below his feet had blue footprints, leading towards one of the chains, also glowing blue. He walked towards it and pulled, pausing when nothing happened. Noticing that the prints led to a second glowing chain, he pulled that as well, smirking when the bars around the cell withdrew.

They walked forward as he let the PSI withdraw from his eyes, letting the world return to its usual colors. Picking up the map, he let Mona examine it. "Nicely done, Joker! Now, with this, we have a better idea of the topography of this place! Maps are necessities for true Phantom Thieves, and will make securing a route that much easier!"

"More importantly, does it say where the Treasure is?"

Shaking his head at Panther's words, Mona sighed. "Unfortunately, it seems like this map is incomplete. It doesn't show the entirety of the castle."

"Mkay, let's check what we can, then! C'mon, Joker, we'll probably find another map somewhere else!"

"Right. Come on, let's move out." They approached the doorway to the next hall, but as he opened the door he came face to face with a Shadow knight. Time seemed to slow down as he began thinking. Attack and tear its mask off? He wasn't ready to jump. Rip his own mask off and blast it with Arsène? His hands were still on the door handles.

Hide?

The moment the thought filtered through his mind, he could feel his PSI react. Instantly, he had been cloaked in pitch-black shadows and he sped past the guard, appearing on the opposite side of it behind a small couch.

Though he was disoriented and nearly threw up from how swiftly he'd moved, he gathered enough of his wits to look at the Shadow guard. It was still staring at where he _HAD _been, apparently very confused. **Do not question it, quickly, take hold of the opportunity!**

He jumped forward just as the Shadow was beginning to cry out in alarm, ripping off its mask to disperse it and reveal the Shadows within. One was a gray-skinned male devil, with a large horn coming from its… crotch, wings, and a bulbous head, with a Mandrake next to it. "Saki Mitama, ravage them! Tarunda!"

"_As you wish," _the golden Persona commented kindly. An orb of dark blue light surrounded the Mandrake, instantly causing its attack power to lessen. It jumped at him, attempting to hit him with a Lunge, but he easily blocked it thanks to the Shadow's weakened strength.

"Panther!"

"R-Right!" Shaking off her shock at what he'd done, she summoned Carmen, launching an Agi first at the Mandrake, and then the devil Persona. They both crashed to the ground, Mandrake in a puddle of goop, and the devil just stunned. They quickly surrounded it, and he pulled out his pistol to point it in its face.

"Oi. You want to die?"

The devil shook its head, stammering as it tried to speak up. "N-No!"

"No what?"

"No sir!"

"Good. I wouldn't want to die either." He squatted down to be at its height and smirked. "I think that I've proven how strong my team and I are… why not join up with me? You'll survive longer if you do."

"Y-Yes! Whatever you say!" Happy that he wasn't going to be killed, the demon flapped its wings and flew up into the air. "H-Hey, wait… Oh yeah! I remember now! I'm not just a Shadow serving Kamoshida, I drift throughout the Sea of Humanity's Soul! I am known as… Incubus! Let's go pick up some chicks together, eh?" Apparently, since he was no longer being threatened, the Shadow was letting out some of his grosser traits.

He grimaced slightly at the thought of having the perverted Shadow within his brain, especially with Panther being dressed the way she was, as Incubus transformed into a copy of his domino mask and slammed into his face, being absorbed into his mind. **It is not like he would say anything thou wouldst not… thou art a teenage boy, correct?**

"Arsène, I will throw you into the guillotine." Arsène quickly shut up, while Pixie and Saki Mitama giggled.

"How the hell did you do that?!" Refocusing, he was suddenly being shaken by Skull. "You, like, teleported or somethin'! I blinked and you were gone!"

"Calm down before you attract more Shadows, you idiot!" Mona began reprimanding the pirate-themed thief, while Panther looked at him in confusion.

"I kind of want to know what that was too. I mean, the second that door opened you just vanished, and somehow gotten behind the knight?"

"I'm… not sure either. Could it have been… another PSI ability?"

"Man, forget about you usin' multiple Personas, those psychic powers are even more op!"

"I'm not quite sure how to activate that one though…" Focusing, he was able to turn the world back into the mottled greys and blacks of his psychic sight ability, but how could he activate that shadow ability? He had needed a sense of urgency, to move, to hide. This would definitely be useful, but he needed a way to use it consistently.

"Come on, let's focus on finding that Treasure!"

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

The next few hours were spent jumping on chandeliers, sneaking through hallways, and killing or robbing Shadows. They managed to find a window that led out to pieces of scaffolding in the courtyard of the castle, giving them a shortcut that would cut out multiple hours of sneaking and fighting in future infiltrations, along with another Safe Room.

After making their way through a dining hall filled with gate puzzles that required his psychic sight, which he had dubbed his Third Eye, what looked to be a kitchen and small storeroom, and finding a magic ring that gave him the ability to use Garu spells like Mona, they came across a roadblock.

"Looks like it's in pretty bad shape…" he nodded at Mona's words, looking at the destruction that lay before them. They had come across a tower, the only way forward, but the staircase leading up was destroyed, lying in ruins.

"Uhh, I don't think we're going any further this way."

"Should we check for another route?"

He shook his head, taking out the map. "This is the only route forward."

"Wait, look up there!" Pointing up at a part of the staircase that wasn't destroyed, Mona indicated one of the goat heads, this one with a ring in its mouth.

"…Mona, I don't have stretchy arms, I can't reach that."

"Wha— no!"

"Are we throwin' a rope up?"

"NO!" Mona huffed and composed himself. "Honestly, you two… Phantom Thieves do things a bit more… stylishly than that! And I know just what'll do the trick." Mona reached into his pack and grabbed what looked like a bunch of wire, a hook, and a bracelet. Figuring out what it was, he took it from Mona and strapped it to his wrist, clenching his hand and making sure his trench coat flapped dramatically as he smirked.

While Panther rolled her eyes, Mona grinned. "Looks like it fits properly!"

"Mona, the hell is that thing anyway?"

"It's a little something I've been working on in secret!"

"What, did you know that we'd need a grappling hook in the future?" He asked as he stretched his shoulders, ready to launch it.

"Well, with how crazy Palaces can be, I suspected we'd need something similar! Now, take aim and try it out!"

He spread his legs and wound up, before throwing his arm forward. The hook shot out and latched onto the goat head, wrapping around it, before the wire began retracting, pulling him up at incredible speeds. He narrowed his eyes and twisted around, making sure that he wouldn't crash into the railing or the statue, flipping over them to land safely. "W-Whoa! Joker, that was freakin' awesome!"

"Yeah! Good job, Mona, that'll definitely make exploring easier!" Mona blushed and began wiggling happily as he was praised by Panther, making him feel bad as he was going to cut their little celebration short.

"Yes, this is certainly incredible, but… Mona, how are the rest of you supposed to follow?" Everyone paused at his words, looking at each other.

Arsène began laughing uproariously in his head, while Incubus snickered.

**Quite the oversight! **

_Looks like the little kitty didn't think this one through! Oh, why not offer the pretty lady a ride up? And then give her a real ri—_

"If you can hit Incubus, please do so." He heard what sounded like several thumps, likely his female Personas smacking the horny devil for his words. He sighed, jumping back down. "Well, as useful as the device is, if nobody can follow me up then we'll need another solution."

"Well, it's not like anyone else could do anything," Mona grumbled.

Thinking, he nodded. "Okay, we explored quite a bit today, and we're all starting to get tired. It's probably better to pull back now and figure something out before returning. Besides, we at least got that shortcut open, right?"

"For real?"

"He has a point."

"Hm… I agree with Joker, then. Let's retreat for now and return another time."

They began retracing their steps, eventually finding themselves in the courtyard by the drawbridge. _Hey, if we're heading out, why not invite Panther over to stay the night at your place, huh? C'mon, kid, I'll give you all the tips you could want on pleasing a woman!_

He immediately changed course, walking towards the doorway into the Velvet Room. "Justine, I need to make use of the guillotines." Arsène and Pixie began laughing at Incubus, while Saki Mitama hummed in approval.

_H-Hey! C'mon, you can't be serious! You totally think the same whenever you look at her, right?!_

Ignoring the devil, he nodded at Justine as she opened the door and he walked through. Upon being greeted by the residents and master of the room, he took Justine's clipboard and selected Incubus, and after a moment of thought, Mandrake. The result was the Slime Persona that had previously been too strong for him to wield, but as long as it wasn't a demon that would fill his mind with perverted thoughts— well, more than a teenage boy already thought, he'd be happy.

One beheading later, and a blob of… brown liquid, with a gaping mouth and red eyes stared at him. "Me become your mask… my power is yours!" Nodding, he stepped away from the bars as Slime was absorbed into him.

"Welp, that's all I needed." Igor chuckled at his brevity, rapping his fingers on his desk slowly.

"Quite the Fusion, hm?"

"I'll be honest, I needed that demon gone."

"How ungrateful!" Caroline slammed her baton into the bars of his cell while Justine shook her head. "Using Master's gift in such a way!"

"Now now, as long as he completes his rehabilitation, I do not think it matters exactly how he puts our gifts to use…" Eyeing him critically, Igor's grin almost seemed to widen, if that were possible. "But, it does seem like your rehabilitation is proceeding quite smoothly. A joyous fact indeed."

He nodded at Igor, feeling his connection deepen just a tad. He then twitched as the sound of crashing chains reached his ears, and he felt actual proof of their bond growing.

**RANK UP!**

**Fool Arcana, Prison Master: Rank Two**

Well, that was obnoxious. It was bad enough getting the entire speech by whatever woman was in his head whenever he got a 'rank one' thing. Was that going to happen every time he felt closer to someone?

"Alright, see you." He waved and turned around, nearly tripping on his ball-and-chain, before exiting the Velvet Room. When he could see again he found himself staring at Skull. He immediately placed his hand on his friend's shoulder and pushed him away. "Back it up."

"Whoa!" Skull jumped back, waving his hands. "What the heck was that? You were just staring at nothin' for like, a whole lotta time!"

"It was ten seconds, Skull," Panther sighed.

"Sorry, I was getting rid of Incubus."

"Eh? It had the ability to steal life from your enemies, right? That's a pretty useful ability, so why get rid of it?"

He sighed at Mona's question. "It was an Incubus, Mona. Guess."

Mona immediately reddened, along with Panther, while Skull just looked confused. "I don't get it."

"Incubus are demons from European folklore who raped women while they slept to steal their life force, and cause them to give birth to witches or wizards."

"Ah. Uh, okay, I can see why you didn't want them in your head…"

"Yeah." He chuckled, sticking his hands in his pockets as he walked towards the drawbridge. "If I'm going to flirt with Panther, I'll do it because I want to, not because some little demon is telling me to."

"H-Hey, hold on, what was that?!"

"Huh? I said we need to get going." He grinned as Panther fumed at him, pulling up the Meta Nav on his phone as his fellow thieves followed behind.

"Shouldn't be flirting with her at all…" Mona grumbled. With a tap of the button, the world began distorting around them and they vanished from the castle, reforming in the alley across from the school. The sun had just gone down, so the sun still had some traces of red and yellow bathing the dark clouds. Morgana, now in his house cat form, jumped into his bag while the rest of them suddenly stumbled.

"Whoa… I'm like… super out of it…"

"You're telling me…"

He grimaced, holding his head. "I'm completely sore… it's a good thing we all stretched before beginning the infiltration, but… Morgana, why exactly do all of us ache like this? We were tired, but it wasn't like we were completely wiped out when we left."

"But your bodies were doing things that you couldn't do in the real world, with enhanced endurance to handle all the tricks you were pulling off. Akira, can you cut someone with a knife with enough force to split them in half? Lady Ann, have you ever whipped something hard enough to destroy it? Numbskull, you've never fired a shotgun, correct?"

"I gues- HEY!"

"I see… Alright, from now on, we should leave the Metaverse when we're starting to become exhausted, not when we _have_ become exhausted. We don't want to do any irreversible damage to our bodies."

"Yeah, I'm fine with that," Ann groaned as she stretched. "I feel like I'm going to collapse the second I get home."

"Indeed. We'll all take some time off. Breaks between Palace Infiltrations will be important, otherwise, we'll wear ourselves out. I'll try to figure out a way up that destroyed staircase in the meantime. What do you all think? Ryu?"

"Sounds good to me. Make sure to text whenever we're meetin' up next." Ryuji waved and walked away, groaning as he stretched. He chuckled as he waved back, before turning to Ann.

"That works for you too?"

"Yeah, I guess. I want to give Kamoshida what he deserves as soon as possible, but… I get why we can't go two days in a row." He nodded, and they began walking towards the train station. "Also, don't think I'm just going to forget about that little flirting comment." He coughed into his fist, reddening while Morgana smiled smugly at his embarrassment.

He should really watch what comes out of his mouth when he's in the Metaverse… all that confidence he gets makes him spout words without thinking. _Love is nothing to be ashamed of, but rather something important that should be sought after, _Saki Mitama commented serenely.

'_I've known Ann for a few days at this point, it is literally impossible to fall in love that quickly. She's just a pretty girl, and— Why am I even talking with you about this?!' _Arsène chortled at his thoughts, while he refocused on the sidewalk.

Having other voices in your head sucked.

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Ryuji•

_4/19, Tuesday_

**DEADLINE: MAY 2ND**

**DAYS UNTIL EXPULSION: 13**

**Steal Kamoshida's heart**

When the bell finally rang, signaling the end of the school day, he let out a sigh of relief. School was as boring as ever, but with the new after school 'activities' he could get up to with Ann and Akira, he was even less inclined to focus… well, it's not as if his grades could get any worse. What'd he get on his last test? A fourteen? Ugh…

He got up, wincing slightly as he felt his sore body clench up, before shaking his head. Even though he'd agreed that they shouldn't infiltrate the castle-whatever twice in a row, he was still a bit disappointed that they couldn't go today and kick the ever-loving shit out of that bastard teacher.

Grabbing his bag and leaving the classroom, he walked down the hall while opening his messenger app and sending a text to Akira.

**You—** Hey where r u right now

It took several seconds for Akira to respond, so he leaned against the wall by the staircase that was nearest to his friend's classroom.

**Aki—** I'm still within my classroom.

**You—** We aint going in 2day right?

**Aki—** We all agreed that we wouldn't go, so we could rejuvenate. Aside from that, I still haven't come up with a way to get the rest of us over that rubble.

He sighed, tapping out a response.

**You—** K, just wanted 2 make sure

His eyes widened as he thought of something, and he grinned.

**You—** Hey well probably find some tougher shadows soon right?

**Aki—** It's likely, yes.

**You—** Back when I was doing track I was way stronger right?

**You—** Well we should do some training so we aint as weak

**You—** So we can keep up with the shadows!

**You—** Its sunny 2dya so its perfect for training!

**You—** *2day

**You—** Lets get our blood pumping!

**Aki—** That's a good idea, Ryu. However, I feel as though you could have put all those texts into one. Condense them. And fix your grammar.

He snorted and grinned, causing several people walking nearby to look at him nervously, scared of the resident delinquent of Shujin, but he ignored them.

**You—** Nah. So wherere we meeing?

**You—** *Meeting

**Aki—** I hate you. Get your gym clothes and let's meet in the courtyard.

He put his phone away and headed to the locker room, changing into his sweatpants and shirt, rolling up the sleeves. Akira was already waiting for him when he arrived, wearing the Shujin gym uniform. "Yo!"

"Ryu." He fist-bumped Akira as he walked up, before beginning his stretches.

"Man, this place brings back memories. This is my secret training spot!" He blinked, before chuckling and scratching his cheek embarrassed. "Uh, was. Back when I was on the track team."

"Ever thought of joining the team again, if they ever reinstated?"

"Maybe… y'know, I've been thinkin' about tryin' to run again."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Fightin' in that other world was a total shock. I could move just like I used to, better, actually! But… that just reminds me how… lame I am in the real world. So, while we train for the Palace, we can get tougher in the real world too!"

"I'm surprised, it seems you do have brain cells." He scowled at his friend as Akira chuckled, before laughing along with him. At least when Akira joked around with him he could tell it was just light jabs, unlike Morgana who just loved to take jabs at him. Well, a saving grace was that the cat wasn't with them right now, apparently exploring around the school while they trained.

"Well, anythin's gotta be better than the flimsy body I got now, right?"

"I suppose so. Well, I'll be counting on you, alright?"

His grin grew at the knowledge that Akira was counting on him, and he pumped his fist. "Alright, I'll totally wreck your expectations, Aki! U-Uh, in a good way!"

"I'm sure," Akira smirked back.

"Hey, you're actin' like I'm the only one that'll be trainin'! Come on, you'll be joinin' me! Ever run before?"

"Not as an exercise."

"Alright, then just do some normal sprints, I'll be doing knee-lift ones."

"Lead the way, Ryu." They crouched down, before bursting forward and beginning their run around the school. Already, Akira was beginning to lag behind him, as even with his busted-up knee he was a better runner than someone who hadn't done sprints before. He made sure to lift his knees as high as he could while maintaining a steady rhythm, in both his breath and his running, but he could feel himself running short of breath already.

When they had finished their training, the sun had started to set. They stopped where they had started, taking the time to catch their breath. "Damn, my legs're all tight…"

"I'm exhausted. Well, not Metaverse exhausted, but still. Tired."

"Yeah. Y'know, before Kamoshida came along, the track team was the biggest thing that Shujin had. I got this kinda workout every day! But that all changed after he got our coach fired and took over as the sub..." He kicked at the dirt, gritting his teeth and crossing his arms as memories began running through his head unprompted. "Effin' bastard… right from the very start he was tryin' to get rid of us. He'd give us crazy workouts, then when we couldn't do 'em, he'd add even more on top of that. Day after day was nothin' but that bullshit…"

He scoffed, "he was goin' for me especially. He knew… he knew I was the kinda guy who'd fight back. If my time dropped even a little, he'd cuss me out. Then on top of that, he brought up my parents…"

"And then you punched him."

He looked up with a wince, but Akira's gaze wasn't judgemental. "..." He breathed in, and began speaking. "Y'see… the truth is, my mom's the only one I got. All my dad did when he was around was drink. Sometimes he'd even beat me, or my mom." He tried to continue to speak, but a mixture of anger and shame washed over him, and he looked away from Akira.

His friend grasped his shoulder and dragged him down, making them both sit on the ground. "I'm listening."

He nodded, wiping his arm along his nose. "Somehow… I don't know how, but that bastard Kamoshida found out. Then he told the whole goddamn team." He clenched his fists, remembering the feeling of slamming his knuckles into Kamoshida's dumb, huge, blocky chin. "And as you can guess, I lost it and hit him. I-It was like he wanted me to do it, though. He called it an 'act of violence' and shut the team down… Thanks to that, the other guys on the team treat me like some kinda traitor."

He pulled at the grass growing beneath them, tugging several strands up and tossing them into the wind. "And they ain't wrong. 'Cause of me, they all lost their shot at the championship." He stared at nothing and closed his eyes. Akira opened his mouth to ask something, before hesitating.

"Do you ever want to go back?"

"To the track team? Nah. I mean, how could I after that?" He scoffed to himself at the thought, though there was some niggling doubt in the back of his mind. If he ever got the chance, would he? Taking down Kamoshida could mean that eventually, the track team would come back, but… "damnit, man, stop asking me tough questions like that! You know I ain't that smart!"

"You said it, not me," Akira chuckled.

"Whatever, that's in the past, so it don't matter now!" He hopped up and grinned, pumping his fists. "I'm only thinkin' about the future, now! That's what we're gonna do- build the future! We gotta think positive thoughts, brother!"

"If you say so." Akira shook his head at him, so he just grinned and held up a hand. The black-haired boy raised an eyebrow, before lifting his own, letting him high-five him with enough force to make Akira stumble. It really felt like their bond was growin' tighter!

Unbeknownst to Ryuji, within Akira's head, the sound of snapping chains was heard once more.

**RANK UP!**

**Chariot Arcana, Ryuji Sakamoto: Rank Two**

"Hey, you're still good to go, right? How 'bout another run?"

Akira looked at him in exasperation and exhaustion. "Another?"

"Yeah! Just one more!" Akira groaned but began following him as they began their exercise again. "By the way, you're pretty good at runnin'! Not as good as me, though!"

His friend narrowed his eyes competitively, removing his glasses and sticking them in his pocket as he sped up. "I'll make you eat those words, Sakamoto."

"Just try me, Starr!"

By the time they finished, he could tell that neither of them would be able to run another step. "Hah… holy… crap… My legs are shakin'... Don't collapse on your way home, man…"

"Gah… hah… you… too…" Akira slapped him weakly on the back, wobbling as he let Morgana jump into his bag. "See you… tomorrow."

"L… Later."

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

•Akira•

When he got back to Leblanc, his body no longer felt like it would collapse, but he was still quite tired. Goddamn Ryuji, and that extra run bull… He chuckled. Well, at least Ryuji had the right idea with training more.

He'd just blast the bastard with a Garu next time they entered the Metaverse.

His phone began ringing and he fished it out of his pocket, only to see it was the devil himself. He picked up, holding it to his cheek. "Ryu, what's up?"

"Sup! You get home okay? Didn't trip or anythin'?"

He laughed. "What are you, my mom?"

"Hey, I've helped newbies on the track team enough to know that some people are so unused to runnin' that they totally collapse!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm in shape, so I can handle some exercise."

"Good! But, uh… man, I'm really out of shape. Felt like I could barely drag my damn legs up the station steps. This woulda never happened back then. Ugh… I shoulda kept running…"

_Reassure him. Teammate is down._

Internally, he sighed at Slime's words. It was odd... When he had been spending time with Ryuji during their training session, Slime had been weirdly talkative, telling him exactly what to say to make his friend feel better, or, get closer with him. Perhaps it was because Slime was a Persona of the Chariot Arcana, just like Ryuji was?

The thing is, he didn't want to get closer to his friend through someone else's advice, he wanted to get closer to him with his own… actions. It was confusing, since Slime was technically part of his mind, but it just felt… wrong.

Still, he did agree that reassuring Ryuji was the best way to make him feel better. "You're quick enough already, Ryu. Nobody on the team can keep up with you in the Metaverse, you know."

"Yeah, I guess. At least my legs healed enough that I can run again, in the real world. But it brings back bad memories, so I've been trying to avoid it…"

"Understandable."

"Yeah. I'm pretty rusty, but even if it got kinda rough, I had fun. And with you here, I get some friendly competition too. Plus, we get to talk!" He smiled, a warm feeling growing in his chest. A friend who just enjoyed spending time with him, just because it was fun? That was a new one.

"Ha. Yeah. Text again when you want to do more training, alright?"

"Yeah, you got it! I'll catch you later! See ya!" He hung up and opened the door to the cafe that he now lived in, the final rays of the sun highlighting him as it finally set. The bell on Leblanc's door rang as he entered, and Sakura looked towards him as he walked in.

The older man looked at the clock hanging on the wall and back to him. "You were out late. I hope-"

"No, I'm not getting into trouble," he shot back, not wanting yet another lecture.

Sakura just sighed at his response. "You should know that with just one mistake, your life will be over. Instead of hanging around, you should be studying or something."

"I've always gotten the highest marks in all of my classes," he answered quickly. Sakura clearly just wanted to make his own life easier. If he just stayed in Leblanc and studied, Sakura wouldn't need to write reports to the probation officer that he didn't know where he was, which would likely make the probation officer come in physically to question Sakura on why he wasn't keeping a closer eye on him.

The man rubbed his face at his rebuttal and shook his head. "Listen, I'm fine with you being out after school, but at least try not to get back so late." Trying to strike a compromise, the cafe owner gestured at the counter. "Here, if there aren't any customers, feel free to use the shop."

He paused, looking at Sakura. Was he... _actually_ trying to be nicer? Well, it was better than the antagonism the man had shown when they first met. "...Is anywhere fine?"

"Within reason, obviously. Don't touch anything in the kitchen, and if you're gonna study, you can use one of the tables. Just don't leave the place covered in eraser crumbs, alright? The counter's a comfortable place to read as well, and if you want to get into my good graces, the cleaning supplies are in the bathroom. Spend your time however you want, but just do it when there aren't any customers."

"Right." He stood awkwardly, before setting his bag down on one of the booth seats.

**Are you going to attempt to clean this place?**

'_Sure. Might as well try and make things just a bit less awkward between me and Sakura.'_

"Oh, are you gonna clean up?" Morgana asked, unknowingly repeating Arsène's question. He just nodded this time, opening the bathroom door and finding the mop, bucket, and other supplies he saw when he previously used the bathroom.

That reminded him, he would have to use the bathhouse later… He grimaced at the thought, shaking his head. Leblanc's bathroom naturally only had a toilet and sink, no shower or bath since it was a cafe, meaning he needed to use the nearby bathhouse to clean himself. He was fine with places like locker rooms since he'd been in enough of those, but bathing while basically naked with a bunch of other naked guys?

Yeah, he would never get used to that part of Japan's culture.

Upon seeing him pulling out the supplies, Sakura's eyebrows rose. "Oh, you're actually going to clean up? I was joking about that."

He rolled his eyes about getting asked the same question a third time. "Yes."

"Huh. Well, alright then, I'll start closing up."

"Goodnight, Sakura-san." He focused on his tasks as Sakura got ready to leave and close up, mopping the floor and making sure the tables were spotless. Sakura paused right before he left, watching him work, before murmuring something to himself and exiting the cafe.

He kept working but looked to his bag as he did. "So, Morgana, any ideas?"

Popping his head out, the black cat shook himself out. "Well, I could make several more grappling hooks for the rest of us, but they require a good amount of material to make. Cable especially. To get that much material…"

"Fair. So, we either need to buy or find enough material for you to create three more grappling hooks… or at least two, you can ride on my back when I use mine."

"Or I can ride with Lady Ann," Morgana commented dreamily.

"Focus."

"Ah! Right, sorry. But, where would we even be able to buy so much material? Or get it? A scrap yard? The junk there would be too damaged for me to use effectively!"

A place to get materials… He bit the inside of his cheek as he thought. Well, there was one place.

Many times when he had visited his uncle's laboratories with his father, his uncle would let him play in the workshop areas, after removing all the more dangerous machines of course. He was never able to make anything, considering he was very young, but he remembered that they were filled with various tools and machines that he could use however he wanted, along with taking things home if his uncle deemed them safe enough.

**Making use of the Andonuts labs for creating tools would likely be very suspicious.**

'_Not if we simply take the parts for a grappling hook, and not make anything while we're there. I can disguise this as a simple visit to see Uncle Anthony, due to me feeling down while away from my family.'_

**Hm. It could work.**

"Hey? Hey, are you listening?"

"Yes, I'm listening. I think I have an idea on how to get the materials we need."

"Oh, that's great! Then let's finish cleaning and get ready for tomorrow! You must be tired after all."

He chuckled, nodding. "Yeah, let's do just that."

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

_4/20, Wednesday _

**DEADLINE: MAY 2ND**

**DAYS UNTIL EXPULSION: 12**

**Steal Kamoshida's heart**

"T-This is the place?!"

"Yeah." He looked up at the letters above the main doors spelling out 'Andonuts laboratories', before entering the building. A glass and steel building several dozen stories in height, it was situated near to the Shibuya crossing, just a few minutes walk away.

He was still shocked by the fact that you could walk just a few minutes from a residential area and arrive in a commercial area, or wander from a commercial area and arrive in an office sector. Big cities truly were, well…

Big.

"This is a laboratory! Will they even let you in?!"

He frowned, opening the door. Truth be told, he had been a tad excited to see his uncle again… enough so that he may have forgotten to inform Morgana of his relation to the man. He opened his mouth, only to feel a stab of fear in his heart.

Morgana would likely tell the others about the visit, including how his father was so close to one of the richest and smartest men on Earth that the man was practically blood-related. He didn't want… Would Ryuji and Ann react how he thought they would upon hearing this?

Would they start to act like all those others back in Onett, who tried to cozy up with him just because his father was a famous baseball player? Because his mother was one of the most popular teachers at the town's school, and could even be the next principal? Because they knew the king of a foreign land, or the owner of dozens of labs in dozens of countries?

Of course they would…

_Mister Joker, I don't think they would just suddenly turn on you, especially miss Panther!_

Saki Mitama agreed with Pixie. _Have faith in your friends, young one._

_Teammate is good person, would not betray trust. _

**Slime is correct, and not just about Ryuji. Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana, thou know none of them would betray thy confidence. If I am thy true, inner thoughts, then thou know what I speak is the truth.**

He scowled. "My… father knows someone who works in one of the CEO's locations. We visited often, I'm sure I can get in. Just make sure to hide deep in my bag. They likely won't allow animals in." He heard Arsène sigh within his head, but ignored the thief and focused on walking through the lobby of the building. A receptionist behind the main desk looked up as he entered, plastering on the fake smile that all receptionists used.

"Hello, welcome to Andonuts Laboratories. What can I do for you today?"

He nodded as a greeting, adjusting his bag and making sure to subtly elbow it as a reminder to Morgana to stay quiet. "I'm here to meet with Anthony Andonuts. I was told that he was in the Tokyo division's building currently."

The woman's eyebrows rose imperceptibly, to a normal person at least. She was clearly very skeptical of the sixteen-year-old boy saying he wanted to meet the CEO of such an important and large company. "Is he expecting you?"

He could _feel _the suspiciousness in that one sentence. "No, this was supposed to be a surprise visit, but he'll be fine with meeting me."

"I very much doubt th-"

"Call him, and tell him Akira Starr is here to see his uncle."

The woman immediately grabbed the phone on her desk and began dialing, though she still looked very doubtful. He had gambled on the fact that she would rather risk Anthony reprimanding her for believing some random kid that he was related to him, rather than turn away the CEO's actual nephew and risk him complaining to his uncle about her. "Hello, sir? Someone's here to see you… Yes, I know sir… Yes. He said his name was Akira Starr."

She nodded, and he could see her visibly relax. She nodded at him and motioned towards the elevators. "His office is on the top floor."

"Thank you." He nodded again and walked towards the elevators, pausing as one opened automatically, before entering and hitting the top-most button.

"Hey, did it work? I can't hear anything in here!"

He shook his bag slightly. "Yes. I know it's likely uncomfortable but I'll try and make this quick."

**You wouldn't have to if—**

'_I don't want to hear it.'_

Upon reaching the top floor he stepped out and walked down the brightly lit halls, eventually coming to the end to find his uncle's office, with another desk and a man sitting behind it just outside the doors to the office itself. This man was probably his uncle's personal secretary, for this building at least, while the woman downstairs was just the general receptionist. "Akira Starr?"

"Correct."

Clicking a button, the man spoke, "Sir, Mr. Starr is outside. Yes sir." He smiled and nodded. "Go right ahead. You're lucky, you know, Mr. Andonuts spends more time in the labs than in his office doing actual paperwork," the man chuckled. "It can be rare to actually find him in the office."

"Yeah. Even he doesn't enjoy paperwork." He walked forward, placed his hand on the handle to the doors, breathed in, and entered. The office was plain, filled only with several different filing cabinets, bookcases, and a desk in front of massive windows looking over Tokyo. His uncle wasn't really one for sitting in an office all day, after all.

And sitting behind his desk was his uncle, just finishing with signing a paper. He was a tall blond man, with his hair combed to the side and wearing a pale blue suit with glasses on the bridge of his nose. Of course, the glasses were actually necessary for his uncle, unlike his. "Well, this was a surprise," his uncle smiled, "You didn't call and tell me you were going to visit."

'_Please, none of you speak. I don't want to be distracted after—'_

**We understand. We shan't interrupt thy family meeting.**

_Yeah! We promise!_ Various other murmurs of assent were given from his Personas, and he refocused on the man opposite him.

"That was kind of the point," he responded. "That, and it was a sort of last-minute thing."

"Oh?" Anthony stretched as he stood, walking around his desk and placing his hand on his shoulder. The man was a few inches taller than him and smiled down slightly at him. "I think I can guess what this visit is about. How are you holding up?"

"I'm doing okay. I've been hanging out with some others in my school."

"Is that so? That's good, hanging out with others your age. You never seemed to like interacting with any other children, from what I could see in the rare instances I could visit Onett, that is."

"Yes, well, we have some things in common." partially anyway. Ryuji and Ann likely didn't have the same experiences he had, but they were all outcasts in their own rights. Plus, there was the fact that they all battled monsters in a castle formed by a sick bastard's cognition of reality, but he couldn't tell Anthony about that.

Besides the fact that he likely wouldn't believe him, his uncle would be worried and likely tell his father. Even if they _would_ believe him, neither of them had probably ever fought an actual battle at any point in their lives, so they wouldn't be able to help in that regard, and both would want him to stop so he wouldn't be in danger. But he wouldn't stop now. Not until Kamoshida paid.

"I'm glad. You should introduce them to me sometime. They must be interesting if you wanted to befriend them, considering you never liked anyone else." A lance of pain shot through his heart as Anthony chuckled. He knew Anthony hadn't meant what he himself thought Anthony meant, but it was still painful. His family was the very reason he could never and never wanted to befriend anyone… He didn't blame any of them, Dad, Mom, Uncle Anthony, Uncle Noct, for they weren't _directly _to blame, but…

"Maybe," he said with a smile, already knowing he would never bring his friends to meet his uncle. He couldn't risk seeing that look in their eyes.

The look that people got when they realized they could use him to interact with these famous people, use him for their own gain. … He ignored Arsène's rumble in the back of his mind and how another part of him rallied against the idea of his friend's even thinking of doing that, continuing to fake his smile.

"Well, either way, let's not talk here. Even _I_ don't like my office. Let's head down to the workshops, let's see if you're any match for me in inventing now that you've grown."

He shook his head as they walked back towards the elevator, getting inside and riding it down. "I don't think I'll be any match for you anytime soon, uncle."

"Oh please, you're at least smarter than your father, bloody idiot that he is," Anthony grinned at him.

"I feel I should at least defend my dad, but…" He trailed off and snorted.

The blond man nodded as he chuckled. "To be fair, he never was one for his academics. You can trust him with anything else though."

I still can't believe you two are friends. You're both so wildly different."

Anthony's smile turned wistful. "Yes, well, our friendship was tested at times, but… well, that's another story." They exited as the doors opened, and Anthony led him into one of the workshops of the building. "This is my private workshop, anything catch your eye?"

He mentally snorted at the choice of words and made sure that Anthony wouldn't see when his eyes began glowing brighter as he used his Third Eye. The workshop was drowned in shades of black and gray, and he began looking for items of interest.

The first thing he had done when he'd gotten back to Leblanc on Monday, after their exploration of the castle, was experiment with the psychic ability. The most important thing he'd found out about it was how exactly it highlighted objects. It all depended on what he needed at the time. When in the castle he needed a way to open the cage around the map, so his Third Eye highlighted the chains that would open said cage.

Right now, he needed materials for a grappling hook. Sure enough, several objects began glowing blue in his vision. He began walking around, observing the machines in the room. "So, what have you been making recently?"

"I personally haven't had much time to invent new machinery. I've been spending more time in Scarabia. After all, another tomb has recently been opened, so by the end of the month I was going to go on an expedition within it."

"Tomb raiding, huh?"

"I suppose you could call it that," Anthony chuckled. "I'm hoping that we'll be able to find…" He continued to listen as his uncle rambled on and on like he usually did whenever he talked about something he was interested in, subtly grabbing materials and playing with them, pretending to put them back while slipping the rest into his bag, taking advantage of his uncle not paying much attention. Morgana mewled in discomfort at the feeling of cables and metals being put on top of him but managed to stay mostly silent.

As he gathered up the last of the materials his Third Eye was highlighting, he spotted two objects that were glowing gold instead of blue. He blinked as he walked over and picked them up, turning off his Third Eye to reveal twin grappling hooks.

**Truly?**

_Wow, that's funny!_

_Quite the coincidence that your father's friend created grappling hooks at the same time we are attempting to create some._

"Uncle, are these—?"

"Your father tricked me into making those," Anthony sighed. "The dumbass. I still don't quite understand how I fell for that one. I'll likely just keep them in here. After all, I do not trust your father with grappling hooks…"

"That would likely be a disaster."

"A lot of stuff in this room are things I'm likely never going to look at anyway, I'll probably just keep them here so Sapphire can never wreak havoc with them." Anthony shook his head and walked deeper into the room. "Well, was there anything in particular you want to look at? We could try inventing something together, uncle nephew bonding if you would," Anthony chuckled.

While Anthony's back was turned, he slipped the completed grappling hooks into his bag. After all, it would be better to have completed ones rather than just the materials to make them. "Yeah, let's make some stuff."

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

By the time they finished making stuff together, it was late afternoon, and Akira left after exchanging a hug with the man and a promise to come visit again, when Anthony returned from his expedition, anyway.

Morgana had _not _been pleased about being stuck at the bottom of his bag for multiple hours, but he managed to apologize by buying some sushi at the supermarket on the return trip. Even then, he had some fresh claw marks on his arms, but nothing a Dia from Pixie couldn't handle next time they entered the Metaverse.

"So, we're heading into the castle again tomorrow?" Morgana asked between bites of food.

"Correct. Hopefully, we'll be able to progress further without anything else that'll slow us down."

"We can only hope. So, why don't we make some new lockpicks tonight in case we come across any locked treasure chests tomorrow?!" He could practically feel Morgana's excitement at the thought of cracking open a couple of treasure chests and chuckled in response.

"Sounds good to me." They continued towards Leblanc, munching sushi in companionable silence.

* * *

**Think I'll leave it off there. I know, people are probably upset that I haven't started the Death Confidant yet, but I'm trying to make the timeline move along realistically. Sure in-game you can complete entire Palaces in one day unless they have an obstacle that requires you to exit the Metaverse (even Kamoshida's in a new game if you ration HP and SP well enough) but it would make much more sense for Palaces to be completed in multiple runs.**

**Now I get that it's a game, so that's why your teammates teleport behind you after you finish grappling somewhere, but… yeah. See the above paragraph on realism lol. I know that Akira could have also just thrown his grappling hook down at the others for them to use next, but considering how many obstacles you grapple past later on, that wouldn't work all the time. **

**Also, yes, some Personas that Akira is going to get likely won't stay very long. I'm having fun playing with Persona personalities, and future ones will probably be even more fun lol. Incubus for one, being a perverted demon, was pretty entertaining to me. Future ones too…**

**Angel and Succubus, for example. Should be pretty entertaining having those two talking in a teenage boy's mind. Especially at the same time.**

**Speaking of, It's pretty fun making more M-rated jokes. After all, Akira and the others are sixteen and older, pretty much the prime age when boys make sex jokes to each other. Well, I turned nineteen three weeks ago and still make jokes like that with my friends, but y'know. Whatever. Another funny note, the game never explicitly states it, but Leblanc is a cafe, so it doesn't have a shower. I'm pretty sure Joker would need to use the nearby bathhouse, and since getting naked in Japanese bathhouses is normal, well, we can see the problem considering Akira is from Eagleland (America) in this story lmao.**

**That'd be mighty awkward, for me at least.**

**Turning Third Eye from an ability that Igor gives you to a psychic one was something I've thought about, as well as the little hiding ability. I won't be changing much about Third Eye, but I might for the stealth power. We'll see if I can come up with some cool ways to utilize it as a PSI ability.**

**ONE FINAL NOTE! Though I've planned out most of the story, there is one thing I could never decide upon. Considering it was in the epilogue of the last story, I don't consider this a spoiler: Sapphire is clearly going to have a Persona of his own. What I couldn't decide upon is what his Arcana should be. **

**Obviously, the game already has the 22 Major Arcana, but in every expansion (P3 FES, P4 Golden, P5 Royal) there are always extra Arcana, like the Aeon Arcana, Jester, Hunger, Priest, Hope, Faith, Councillor… I've been stuck between the World Arcana and the Hope Arcana. While the Hope Arcana is obvious, the World Arcana symbolizes a journey's end, fulfillment, wholeness, harmony, and the totality of the world, which Sapphire achieved at the end of Bound By Our Hearts with the whole eight sanctuaries and Heart Bound shit, and the Arcana itself is based upon the user's bonds with others. So, really, both could fit as his Arcana.**

**I'm leaning towards the World since it seems to fit better, but I'm open to thoughts. God this Author's Note was long... Anyway, leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read. See y'all next time!**


	12. Chapter 12: The Hierophant

Chapter 12: The Hierophant

•Akira•

Upon returning home, he was greeted by Sakura cleaning some dishes. He began walking past him, aiming to go upstairs and do his homework, only for the older man to stop him as he went. "Hey, you got a sec? Something I want to ask you."

He blinked, before nodding. After the events of the previous day, he could see that the man was attempting to be a bit nicer, though he was still very strict, so he would at least hear him out. Perhaps he would also go back to using a 'san' when addressing the man in his head… 'What is it?"

"Ah, just give me a second. I'll finish this set of dishes, and then we can talk. Why don't you set your stuff down in your room? You must be tired of carrying it all day after going wherever it is you go."

"Alright." He climbed the stairs to the attic, going to the workbench and setting down his bag. Morgana jumped out and shook his body to settle his fur. "I'm going to go see what Sakura needs. Do you want to examine the grappling hooks we got from the laboratory?"

"Wait, I thought you only stole supplies to make them? Where did you get these?"

**Will thou tell thy companion? Or continue to hide the truth?**

Not deigning to respond to Arsène, he quickly thought up an explanation. "I tried to see if I could use the materials we got to make functioning hooks. After all, if I picked out the wrong supplies and we weren't able to create the hooks after we got back it would have been rather embarrassing. Luckily, now we have extra material should we need it."

"Huh. Alright, Let me check these out. After all, you're definitely not at my level of making equipment!" He rolled his eyes at the cat's smug smile, turning to return to the ground floor.

"Yes, yes, you're much better than me at tool-making." He descended the last few stairs and sat at one of the booths, waiting for Sakura to finish the dishes. He looked around, noting how nobody was in the cafe. Well, it was rather late and probably close to closing time, but still. How did Sakura keep this shop afloat when no one came by?

"So, how's school going? You're not causing any trouble, are you?"

"I'm fine. I haven't drawn any attention to myself. Well, besides what I get from being on probation," he scowled.

"Good. I have to report to your probation officer twice a month, have you been keeping your journal up to date?" He nodded silently, patting his pocket where he kept it. Of course, he couldn't write down that he was exploring a castle during the afternoon, so he simply switched that with 'hung out with group.' Short and crude though it was, it likely would fit with a probation officer's view on what a troubled teenager would write down.

"Yeah, my whole life will be on file whenever they need it."

Sakura sighed softly. "That's just how society works. It's kept in check by laws and authority figures, people can go and get themselves killed if they want, but they shouldn't drag others into their mess." He bristled slightly at Sakura's words, figuring that they had been partially aimed at him, and also infuriated at the thought that his 'guardian' was so callous.

He opened his mouth to spit back a response, words forming on his lips, before Sakura's phone rang. He fished his phone out of his pocket and answered, speaking into it. "Hello? What's wrong? ...Yeah, I'm heading out now. Sorry about that." He chuckled, nodding. "I know, the usual, right? Okay, I'll see you later."

He crossed his arms as he watched Sakura speak into the phone, sighing as he talked to his wife, or girlfriend, or whoever the hell was on the other side of the device. After hanging up, Sakura looked at him. "As you can see, I'm pretty damn busy both at work and in my private life. If you could lend a hand, it'd be a great help." He felt his eye twitch at the man trying to rope him into helping around the shop after having partially insulted him, but managed to calm himself down by counting to ten in his head.

Once again, he needed to be polite so his guardian wouldn't kick him out. "Sure."

He wasn't exactly trying hard to hide his annoyance, so Sakura could clearly see that he wasn't happy about agreeing. "Don't worry, it won't be for free. Here, if you help me out, I'll, ah… oh, I'll teach you how to make the perfect cup of coffee. Not a bad trade, huh?"

That trade sucked. He was going to be paid in coffee tips? Ugh… Arsène chuckled within his head, while he just nodded his head. "Sounds fine to me."

"All right. Looks like we've got ourselves a deal." Sakura grinned at him, and he forced a grin onto his face in return. Well… Even if the deal sucked, at least it seemed like Sakura was being just slightly warmer towards him. He was clearly still wary of him, but it seemed like the man was beginning to trust him enough to assist him behind the counter.

**In time, perhaps he will trust us even more.**

**I am **_**Thou. **_**Thou art I.  
****Thou hast acquired a **_**new **_**vow.**

**It shall **_**become **_**the Wings of Rebellion  
****that **_**breaketh **_**thy chains of captivity.**

**With the birth of the Hierophant Persona,  
****I have **_**obtained **_**the winds of blessing that  
****shall lead to freedom and new **_**power**_…

**Hierophant Arcana, Sojiro Sakura: Rank One**

Huh. Well, he hadn't expected to gain a bond with Sakura… He wasn't exactly sure what the requirements for having a bond with someone were, but it seemed like he needed to strike some form of deal with them.

"I'll be counting on your help. Here, I'll let you handle the rest of the dishes, alright?" He sighed at being roped in already to help, but nodded and walked into the small kitchen and prepared to clean up.

"Right…" Soon enough he had finished with cleaning, and Sakura returned dressed in his everyday clothes.

The man nodded at his work, chuckling. "Gotta say, I'm glad you catch on quick with this stuff. Makes my life a lot easier. Just keep doing what you can. And don't cause any trouble, right?"

"Of course, Sakura-san."

"Glad to hear it. For today though, just make sure you lock the place up. And don't go too crazy with the stuff in the shop. You're staying here rent-free, so you should know not to go overboard. All right, see you tomorrow." He waved him off, before stretching and walking up the stairs to his room.

"How?!" He was immediately greeted by Morgana, wailing from the workbench. "How were these constructed so well?!"

"Maybe I just got lucky," he chuckled, sitting down and grabbing his homework, all while Morgana fumed at the sight of the expertly crafted devices.

**Ω • Ω • Ω**

_4/21, Thursday _

•Akira•

**DEADLINE: MAY 2ND**

**DAYS UNTIL EXPULSION: 11**

**Steal Kamoshida's heart**

While readying his knife, he nodded at his teammates, before refocusing on the enemy shadow that was unknowingly walking towards their hiding place. Through the use of the shortcuts they had created the last time they were in Kamoshida's Palace, they had managed to return to the destroyed staircase quickly and easily. And with the use of the grappling hooks, they were finally able to make progress, after an amusing incident where Skull had crashed into the goat head they had grappled onto.

Though the very next thing that greeted them after they began moving forward was this new enemy, something they could all see was much more dangerous than the normal Shadows, even though the others didn't have his Third Eye. For one, there was a bright red aura around the knight, visible even to the naked eye, as though it were on fire.

Second, it was larger than the other patrolling knights, though only by a slight amount. It wasn't massive, but it was just noticeable enough. "I call those Savage Enemies," Mona explained. "They're way tougher than most regular Shadows. You can think of them like… a mini-boss! They can take a lot more damage, and are much more fanatical when it comes to obeying the Palace Ruler. If you want to negotiate with them, it'll only be possible when they're near death."

"I bet we can take it!" Skull whisper-yelled.

"Maybe… but we'll need to be careful."

"Your call, Joker." He hummed at Panther's words, preparing mentally. Gazing at the area just behind the Savage Enemy, he focused his mental energy, letting PSI flow through his veins. He still hadn't mastered it, but hopefully…

And just like that, he felt the shadows surround him and he burst forward, flowing between the guard's legs like water and near-instantly appearing behind it. He smirked, before leaping forward and onto its shoulders, grabbing its face and tearing it off. "I'll reveal your true form!"

As it transformed, his teammates rushed forward and attacked with the slash of a saber, crack of a whip, and slam of a bat, causing its still-blobby form to gurgle in pain. He flipped onto the ground and spun to face it as it's true body appeared.

Standing in the middle of the hall was, similarly to its guard form, a knight. Only this time, it was sitting upon the back of a horse and gazing at them furiously. It looked similar to the horseman that they had faced when Skull awoke to Captain Kidd, only this knight's armor was grey unlike the other's gold, and the horse it rode was red and slightly smaller, while the other's, which had been grey.

"You damn… how dare you attack a knight of King Kamoshida!" Its horse reared back and the knight spun its polearm, before charging towards them. They all split up, the knight galloping straight through where they had stood before its horse whinnied and reared back, turning to face them yet again.

"First, we'll figure out what it's weak to!"

Skull grinned at his orders. "In other words, blast it with random shit until it's stunned!"

He smirked back. "Essentially."

"Carmen!"

"Zorro!"

"CAPTAIN KIDD!"

"Arsène."

The Savage Enemy shuffled, wary for a moment about facing four Personas at once before the knight urged its horse on. It took a swing at Panther first, but she managed to dodge back in time while having Carmen hit it with Agi. It easily shrugged the attack off, and Mona cursed. "Damn, it's resistant to fire! Fine, let's see how you like a Garu!"

The whipping winds caused it to slow slightly unlike the flames, but it still was ready to keep fighting and swung at Mona. "Ha!" Skull placed himself in between the cat and the Shadow, grinning and yelling, "It'll take more than just a swat from you to— GACK!"

He was sent flying as the lance struck him but luckily Captain Kidd managed to catch him before he crashed into a wall. "Skull!" He turned his gaze to the horseman and snapped his fingers, glaring as he ordered his Persona to attack. "Arsène, Sukunda!" a green orb appeared around the Shadow, and when it next charged at them it was noticeably slower and less agile.

Mona jumped around the attacking Shadow, sending Zorro forward to use its healing spell on Skull. As the Dia healed his wounds, Skull growled and pointed forward as he grasped the hull of the ship. "Why you little—! Captain Kidd, let's get 'em!" The skeletal pirate grinned and launched a Zio, but yet again, the knight continued to stand strong.

It whipped its halberd around, which Captain Kidd barely avoided by floating away from it, while Panther summoned her Sterlidge and unloaded its entire magazine. Unfortunately for the team, the bullets just bounced off of its armor, not even denting it. "It's immune to gun attacks! Don't bother using those!"

Backflipping over a swing, he scowled at Mona's callout. "Ravage them, Arsène!"

"**Shall we see how they like this?!"** The Persona's hand was wreathed in black fire as the curse attack was powered up, before he launched the Eiha into the Shadow's face. It washed off as if nothing had happened, and Arsène grunted as the knight struck him in the side with its weapon.

He hissed in discomfort as the pain Arsène felt transferred to him, and a bruise formed beneath his coat on his side. "Switch!" If electricity, curse, and wind didn't work, but it was resistant to fire, then… "Saki Mitama! Bufu!"

"_As you wish." _The golden teardrop opened her mouth and blew out cold wind, forming small crystals along the ground in a path towards the Savage Enemy, before a ball of ice formed and shattered directly in the knight's center of mass. It immediately stumbled, the horse collapsing beneath it, and the Shadow atop it struggling to catch itself.

He immediately pounced on the opportunity with a cry of, "All-Out Attack!" The team began their assault, using their Personas, guns, and melee weapons to maximize the amount of damage they could do before the Shadow could get back up. Just before they could finish it off, it managed to recover and spun its halberd around before stabbing him through the shoulder. "GAH!"

"JOKER!"

He gripped the haft of the weapon as it stabbed through him, mentally switching from Arsène to Slime. With the viscous Persona's resistance to physical attacks, he was able to focus through the pain and rip the pointed tip of the weapon out of his body with another scream, before snarling as his eyes blazed with the blue flames that came with summoning a Persona. "Slime, Evil Touch!"

Evil Touch was a dangerously simple spell, and one that he found was incredibly useful. Evil Touch inflicted… Fear. It was such a simple emotion, but in the middle of a battle, fear was so incredibly useful. A single moment of hesitation on its own could decide the fate of a battle, but Evil Touch causes fear so intense that anyone afflicted with it would be completely paralyzed from terror.

His Persona appeared in place of Arsène, its already wide mouth opening even wider as a black mist shot into the Savage Enemy's helmet, causing it to begin coughing as it backed away. Skull had Captain Kidd catch him as he fell, and Panther quickly used Dia to heal him while the Persona placed him on the ground.

"Are you alright?! You were—"

"Yeah, don't worry about that…" he rolled his shoulder and winced. Dia, as much of a miracle as that spell was, only healed minor wounds. There was still a lot more missing flesh that hadn't healed, but at least his trench coat was beginning to repair itself and hide the damage so he didn't need to look at it. "For now, we need to unload everything we've got while it's scared!"

"Hell yeah!" Skull immediately jumped forward and began whaling on the Shadow, before letting Captain Kidd get in the last hit with a Lunge attack, sideswiping the horseman with his boat. As it stumbled back he quickly swapped again to Saki Mitama, and another Bufu sent it tumbling to the ground. Still paralyzed with fear, they unleashed another All-Out Attack, but somehow the Shadow was still standing.

"I told you they were tougher than other Shadows… come on, we need to take it down before it recovers!"

Of course, it was just their luck that the Savage Enemy managed to get over the effect of Evil Touch as they charged, and he immediately had Saki Mitama use Tarunda to weaken its attack as it reared back and smacked Panther in the side of the gut, the small daggers on the side of the main blade slashing into her stomach, and the only reason she wasn't impaled deeper was due to its weakened strength.

She bit back a scream, and Mona yowled angrily as he leaped up and slashed his saber into the small area between the knight's helmet and it's breastplate, cutting into its neck. "How dare you hurt Lady A— Panther!"

"Focus, cat!" Skull roared as he brought his bat down on the Shadow's head, with so much force that the monster was stunned for a moment. "Joker, they're—!"

"I see it! Panther?!"

"I'm okay, let's do it!"

He grinned, nodding at Skull. "You heard her!"

"Hell yeah! LET'S TEAR 'EM APART!" They began one final All-Out Attack, which was finally enough to take the Savage Enemy down for good. As it stumbled in place, Skull landed hard, before leaping back onto his feet and grinning as he made the sign of the devil with his hand and their cognition formed Skull's Finishing Touch behind him, police caution tape and the words 'freakin' boring!' in a graffiti-like style. "That's all she wrote!"

Everyone let out a sigh of relief as the battle finished, before Panther winced and held her side. Mona immediately summoned Zorro and had him cast Dia, and they all watched as Panther's flesh reknit itself, while her catsuit repaired itself. "Much better… thanks, Mona!"

As the cat-slash-not-cat giggled and wiggled in place at the praise, Akira sighed and rolled his arm, wincing slightly. "Oh, Joker, should I heal you too?"

"No, you already healed me once, save your energy for more dire circumstances and Garus. I can live with the pain."

"But man, Monamona, you weren't kiddin' when you said those guys were tougher! I already feel beat up and that was, like, the first Shadow we've fought today!"

"I call them Savage for a reason. And don't call me Monamona, Numbskull!"

After stopping another fight between the two before it could start, he led them through more hallways, eventually finding another Safe Room in which they rested for several minutes, before continuing their exploration. Returning to their exploration and comparing the hallways to their map, they discovered that they were in a part of the castle that had several small rooms and hallways, as well as a hallway deeper into the castle. However, after discovering that the path forward was locked behind a set of bars, they quickly set out to search through the various rooms.

Some of them had a few Shadows in them, but none had anything especially interesting in them, besides several books in the large bookcases that the rooms contained. In the two rooms they had entered so far, the books highlighted in blue by his Third Eye were the Beefcake Book and the Slave's Book, and, after slaughtering a Shadow guard that transformed into five Incubus' that they quickly slaughtered, he looked around the inside of the third room they had entered to find a book labeled the Queen's Book.

"What's so special about these things anyway?" Skull questioned as he slipped the book into one of his pockets.

"I'm not sure yet, but my Third Eye highlighted them for a reason."

"I thought your psychic eye thing only made what things glow if you were looking for them?"

"That's if I'm looking for something specific. When I'm not looking for anything in particular, it highlights objects that would be useful to me or valuables I can steal."

"Mwehehe… a skill worthy of a Phantom Thief!"

"Yes, yes, I can spot treasure from a mile away, am an expert with thievery, I'm incredibly chivalrous, and can seduce any woman, I'm a proper gentleman thief." Panther scoffed as he waved his hand nonchalantly, before looking at the map again. "Alright, it looks like this hallway here and the room next to it are the last areas we can explore. Let's move out and hope that the way to unlock the door forward is in there."

"Alright! Let's get a move on!"

There were several more fights on the way, some with a new Shadow that looked similar to a maid wearing a red, full-body dress with white hair that was quickly identified after he managed to recruit her by being dodgy and evasive with every answer he gave her. "I suppose you could only find out if you joined me," he smiled.

"Hm… thou do like avoiding the question," she sighed. "Well, I suppose I must forgive thou for that, since it's something I regularly do mysel… Wait… I remember…" She floated a bit higher into the air, her smile growing wider. "In truth, I am not a Shadow. I originated from the human's sea of souls… My true name is… Silky. Henceforth, I am thou, master." And, after transforming into a copy of his white mask and being absorbed into his face, they continued on.

Skull did grumble for a moment that he got a cute maid to hang out in his head, which he chuckled at.

After plundering another chest that held an honest-to-god medieval mace that Skull eagerly took to replace his bat, they found themselves inside a library. "There are more books in here than Skull has seen in his life," he murmured as Skull let out a 'hey!' from behind him.

"Oh, you know how in movies there are always secret passages in libraries? Do you think there are some in here?"

"Damn, I hadn't thought of that…"

"Excellent work, Panther! Come on, Joker, let's look around!" He rolled his eyes and began observing the room, finding nothing out of the ordinary at first, before switching to his Third Eye. Several spots around the room were glowing lightly, and when he examined one, he discovered that it was an open slot between two books.

"Hm…"

**Thou art thinking thou should slip a book in, correct?**

'_Of course. What else would be logical?' _Though, what book would make sense?

_Perhaps examine the books around the slot? _Silky suggested. He nodded and began looking more closely at the books, and quickly became disgusted.

"'The History of Kamoshida', 'Kamoshida's Heroisms', Tracing Kamoshida's Steps, 'Kamoshida's Law'... Disgusting."

Skull looked over as he read out the titles, recoiling. "What? All those goddamn books are about that piece of shit?!"

"Of course they are, Skull, this is his Palace," Mona sighed.

"Well, let's give this a shot." Grabbing the Beefcake Book and inserting it into the slot, he waited a moment for something to happen. "Let's try fitting the rest of the books into their slots."

"There's an open space here!" Approaching Panther, they observed the books around the opening. "The titles don't really match each other though, they're kind of ran— Hey, wait, that's Shiho's name!"

Skull scratched his head as he looked at the books as well. "Hey, ain't these other books got all the names of the other girls?" His eyes widened behind his mask as he saw one in particular. "'Ann Takamaki: The Charming Doll.' Holy shit…"

"What the heck is this?!"

"Just another example of Kamoshida's depravity." He grabbed and inserted the Queen Book, before looking for a space that the Slave Book would fit in. As he did, he noticed a fourth glowing book, and once he picked it up and read the title he furrowed his brow. "'The King Book…'"

Mona's yowling drew his attention as the cat jumped up and down near a bookcase. "Hey, here's another one!"

"Yo, these're the names of the volleyball team members! Wait… no, it's just the boys!"

"Heh, I found Skull's… 'Ryuji Sakamoto: The Vulgar Ape.'"

"That bastard!"

"Who does he think he is?" Scoffing, he lifted and inserted the Slave Book, and everyone waited for something to happen. The room was silent for several moments, which stretched into a minute, before Panther tapped her cheek with her finger.

"Um… shouldn't something have happened by now?"

"Did we get a book wrong?"

"I suppose… let's try replacing the Beefcake Book with the King Book. It's the only thing that makes sense."

"Or there isn't a secret passageway at all," Skull scoffed.

"If this wasn't anything special, my Third Eye wouldn't have highlighted anything." He replaced the book in the wall while slipping the Beefcake Book back onto his pocket, and as he did so, one of the bookcases slid into the wall revealing a backroom.

"Let's check it out!" Mona ran forward and they followed more leisurely, only to see what exactly was inside the room. It was another of the X-shaped contraptions that Panther had been strapped to when she had first Awakened to Carmen, while all around the room were candles and photos of Suzui.

"Ugh… the hell is this room?" Skull stalked forward and looked around in disgust. "There're tons of pictures of Suzui in here! Wait… every pic is of her!"

Panther stared silently, wincing for a brief moment, and he placed a hand on her shoulder, making her jump. "We'll make him pay for this. Don't you worry. But for now… will you be able to continue on?"

"Yeah… thanks. If anything, I feel even more motivated to do this now."

Mona nodded along, obviously pushing down the need to woo the girl and replacing it with the determination to achieve their goal. "I'm sure it'll feel awful, but we should search this room. There has to be something in here if he was hiding it with such an elaborate trick."

He nodded, but there honestly wasn't much else in the room, besides a small shelf to the left holding… "Is this… a medal?" Panther questioned.

"Really? We solved that dumbass puzzle for a medal?"

"Well, it has to be important. He went through all the trouble to hide it here, after all."

"Mona is correct. At the very least, let's take it with us."

As he grabbed it, Skull leaned forward to look at something that had been beneath the medal. "Hey, ain't that another map?"

"Ooh, and it's a different one from the map we have! Lucky! Let's take it with us!" He grinned and took out their first map, comparing the two, with Mona jumping onto his shoulder. "Let's see… yep, it's complete now!"

"So is it gonna tell us where the Treasure is?"

Mona's eyes practically began to sparkle as he indicated one section. "Yeah, look. It has to be here…"

"That's a pretty weird-shaped building… is it one of the towers?"

"Very astute Panther! I'd say it's a fair bet. And considering our current position, I'd say we're about halfway there."

Skill grinned and slapped him on the back, making Mona yowl and fall off his shoulder. "All right! Let's hurry over there!"

"No, you Numbskull!" Huffing, Mona crossed his arms. "Now that we know how much we have left, we can calculate the best way to pace ourselves. Let's keep exploring, but take breaks when you need to, Joker."

"Hm… well, we got one-quarter of the way in with our first infiltration before we were forced to stop and we got another quarter deeper today… let's at least try and find one or two more safe rooms, and open some shortcuts to make getting back easier the next time we come in. What do you think?"

"Yeah, let's bust some heads!"

"Sure, I'm down."

"A wise choice of action, Joker! Let's go, then!"

Returning to the blocked doorway and finding a pull chain next to it with a circular lock, he inserted the medal they had found which finally made the bars blocking the way retract. _Nice! We move on now, Master!_

Chuckling at Slime's words, they walked through the doors and down a set of stairs, only to find yet another Safe Room at the bottom of them. "Wait, another Safe Room so close to the last one?"

"That's kinda weird… I mean the last few were spread out a bunch, yeah?"

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." Continuing onwards, they walked through another room and were greeted with…

"Whoa, this place is huge!" Skull looked around the large room, which looked to be some kind of chapel. There were rows of pews, stained glass windows, and even a massive statue of Kamoshida. "The hell is this?"

"Be careful, Skull!" Mona huffed and cautiously moved forward. "A place this big, with no guards at all? It's very suspicious."

"But the Treasure's up ahead, yeah? We just gotta keep movin' forward!"

"Well, Skull does have a point. This is the only path forward."

Mona sighed but nodded at Panther's words. "I suppose… still, we should be careful."

"It could be that Kamoshida wouldn't allow anyone into a place that he considers 'sacred'," he replied as he led them forward. "But yes, stay on guard."

The chapel was completely silent bar their footsteps on the carpet as they walked deeper inside, and Skulls tapping his mace against his shoulder. Suddenly, the room warped around them, and they could see that in the real world they were actually within the gymnasium, before it transformed back into the castle.

"That was…?"

Skull snarled before Panther could finish her sentence, glaring at the statue. "I get it… The gym's some kinda holy place to him. He's a god there."

"I can't believe he can think like that… especially after what he did to Shiho…"

"We shouldn't be surprised by Kamoshida's depravity by this point." He spat on the carpet in disgust, feeling a small measure of glee that he'd dirtied Kamoshida's sanctuary.

"God, that bastard makes me so freakin' sick! Just you wait, Kamoshida…"

"I see… so you're the ones who tampered with the library. It seems my time waiting here has paid off." Near to the statue, another golden knight appeared, and he, Skull, and Mona immediately readied themselves, remembering the last golden knight they had challenged, while Panther just grabbed her whip nervously, sensing something different about the enemy. "Just as that ape there said, this place is a holy ground for our great King Kamoshida. It is preposterous for miscreants like yourselves to come waltzing in like this!"

"Oh? You think you can stop us?"

The knight snarled at him as he smirked in response before the golden guard exploded into dark ooze, floating high into the air. When the black fog around it dissipated, it revealed a new Shadow they hadn't encountered yet. Hovering a few feet off the ground thanks to red-brown wings that hung lazily behind it, and wearing classic chainmail armor with a sword longer than he was tall, was an angelic figure glaring at them.

"I, THE HEAVENLY PUNISHER, SHALT MAKE YE PAY FOR DEFYING KING KAMOSHIDA… WITH THY LIVES."

It twirled its blade, and he looked around the chapel. "We're going to treat this thing as if it were a Savage Enemy, be incredibly cautious, and use the open space around us to your advantage. We were in a tight corridor earlier, but now we can move and duck and dive, so go all out"

"THOU WOULDST CONVERSE CALMLY, AND DISCUSS THY PLANS BEFORE THINE ENEMY? QUITE BOLD. BUT DO NOT THINK I WILL GIVE YE RESPITE!" The Heavenly Punisher reared back and thrust its blade downwards at Skull, who barely jumped out of the way with a grin.

"Ha! Nice aim, asshole! Captain Kidd!" The pirate appeared behind Skull as he ripped off his mask, surging forward and slamming his hull into the angelic figure. It recoiled in pain, before ripping its sword out of the ground, sending torn carpet and shattered stone flying. Sweeping its blade to the side, it tried to slice them all in half, only for Mona to narrowly duck beneath it while Panther and he flipped over it.

When he landed he sent out Arsène, and he could somehow tell that his Persona was smirking at the Punisher even though he didn't have facial features. "**Thou may weareth the wings and guise of an angel, but thou serves a monster most foul!" **The Shadow was enraged from Arsène's taunting words, but with a simple Sukunda, the Shadow's movements visibly slowed, allowing Ann, who had been boosted by him, to jump onto Arsène's back and then whip the monster across the face.

It snarled and tried to backhand her away, but Arsène ducked back, throwing her to safety at his command. "You know," he spoke to his other self, "you also have angel wings, but you don't look like any angel I've read about." Arsène just chuckled, before grabbing his arm and tossing him into the air, then dissipating from the world to reform as his mask.

"I THINK NOT, KNAVE." The Heavenly Punisher swung at him and he barely twisted out of the way, frowning as the clothing on his arm was torn. However, he had accomplished his goal of distracting and making the Shadow forget about their smaller teammate.

"My other self… Garu!" Zorro attacked from behind, the whipping winds battering at the Shadow and causing it to grunt. In that brief moment, he switched Personas and ripped his mask free as he landed on the Shadow's head, kicking it towards the ground.

"Pixie! Ravage them!"

"Whip 'em! CAPTAIN KIDD!"

"ZIO!" Both of them launched the electric attacks at once, catching the Heavenly Punisher between them and causing it to spasm wildly in pain, before Panther summoned Carmen to set it alight. As its armor heated up he switched once again, summoning Slime to have it Lunge at the Shadow.

Finally having had enough, it attacked through the pain, slicing straight through Slime's body. He screamed in pain as Slime dissipated from the damage, and all of the pain transferred into him at once. Thankfully Slime's body was just a blob, so instead of the pain focusing on one point, it spread across his body, making it just slightly more manageable.

He fell to the ground and spasmed slightly, while Skull and Panther sprinted forward to distract the powerful Shadow as Mona quickly cast a Dia on him, ridding him of some of the pain. Skull suddenly flew past, skipping along the ground like a stone as he yelped, and Panther crashed down next to Mona.

"This thing is tough!" She gripped her arm and winced, blood leaking from a wound on her bicep. Skull couldn't say anything because he had hit the ground so hard that his head was stuck in the floor, so he turned his gaze back to the angel only to frown, concerned by what he was seeing.

It seemed to be charging up, red light beginning to swirl around it and its eyes glowing brighter. "Uhh…"

"EVERYONE, MOVE!" Mona yowled our and jumped onto Panther's back as they both jumped aside, and the angel's blade cleaved through the ground as though it wasn't even there, shattering it with even more ease than every strike beforehand.

**Trickster, look out! **Trusting Arsène's words from within his head, he rolled to the side and dodged another slash. He grabbed his gun and pulled the trigger, sending a bullet into its face and sending the powerful Shadow into another rage as it attempted to stab him through the stomach.

It wound up, only for a blue sphere to surround it for a moment before breaking apart into tiny bubbles that floated gently away. He looked at the Shadow in confusion, only for it to crash to the ground, asleep. He turned to Ann and saw that she had summoned Carmen while glaring at the Shadow and breathing heavily. "What was…?"

"Carmen just learned it… it's some kind of skill that puts Shadows to sleep, so attack, quick!"

"Don't have to tell me twice." He breathed in and switched Personas again to Arsène, summoning his partner behind him. "Panther, Mona, get ready to hit it with everything you've got after I attack. Skull, get back on your damn feet, and get ready too!" His teammate finally freed himself from the floor and groaned, stumbling to his feet and readying his mace.

He ran forward and ripped off his mask as he went, Arsène appearing next to him and striking as he did. As he swung his blade Arsène swung his blade-heels, waking the angelic figure and causing it to fly back into the path of Zorro's whipping winds and Carmen's burning fire, before Skull jumped and swung his mace, bringing its head down on the Shadow.

It's helmet was dented inwards from the blow, and it wobbled as it flew back into the air while more red light swirled around it, before he had Arsène blast it with an Eiha. It weathered the attack, while Captain Kidd battered it from behind and Carmen and Zorro continued to try and overwhelm it before it could finish Charging.

It floated in silence, continuing to focus its power, and he scowled as he jumped away. "Everyone, get back, don't risk making any other att—!"

"HUOOOOH…" The Shadow spun, cleaving through the pews it's blade struck as it aimed towards Panther. He saw her try and jump away from it, but she wasn't fast enough and it cut through her stomach, splashing the battlefield with blood. The battlefield went silent for just a moment as they all watched Panther stumble, holding a hand to her wound as her pink gloves became redder and redder, before Mona ran for her.

"P-Panther!"

"Shit!" The angel made to stab at the cat, before Skull roared and tackled it, Captain Kidd firing some kind of beam that made the boy's body glow red. Surprisingly, Skull managed to push the angel just out of range, so the sword sliced through the air just over Mona's head as he began trying to heal Panther.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" He snarled and looked around, trying to find anything that could help them. The Shadow was beginning to look winded and its armor was dented and damaged in places, but they clearly weren't going to kill it any time soon, especially with Panther out of the picture. His eyes locked onto Kamoshida's disgusting statue, and his grimace became a grin.

"Skull, I'll keep it occupied, I need you to knock down that statue!"

"Eh?!" Skull turned to look at the massive statue, before nodding and disengaging. "Y-You got it! Just make sure you whoop this thing's ass for Panther!"

"THOU WOULD DARE DEFILE KING KAMOSHIDA'S STATUE? I THINK NOT, KNAVE!" Before it could chase after Skull, he jumped onto one of the pews, quickly summoned Arsène to jump onto his back and have him launch him higher, before recalling the Persona and switching back to Slime, bringing him out and using Lunge from above.

They crashed to the ground, the angel turning and trying to slash his body in half, only for him to roll beneath the blade and pulled out his Tkachev handgun to unload several bullets into its face. While it recoiled in pain, he dove through its legs, onto another undamaged pew, and then its back. He raised his dagger and stabbed into the gap between helmet and breastplate, causing black ooze to spew from it.

He withdrew and stabbed again, knifing the bastard as quickly as he could, before it suddenly flew backward and slammed him into a pillar, crushing him between it and the Shadow. He gasped as he felt pain flow through him and he lost his grip on the angelic knight, crumpling to the ground.

He gasped and turned over, his arms wobbling as he tried to push himself to his feet, looking up to see the angel flying towards Skull, who was barely managing to move the massive statue with Captain Kidd's help. "TAKE THY DISGUSTING HANDS OFF OF THE KING'S STATUE, KNAVE!"

_Master, the skill that put the enemy to sleep, I wield it as well._

"S-Silky!" After hearing her words he immediately switched Personas and brought her out, pointing at the angel. "Dormina!" Another blue sphere appeared around it and separated into bubbles, causing the Shadow to hover lower to the ground for a moment, before it shook itself back awake with a snarl.

"THOU WILL NOT STOP ME."

"Alright, be like that…" He struggled to his feet and pointed at the statue instead. "Bufu!" Silky pressed her hands together before blowing between them, sending cold wind flowing past the Heavenly Punisher and freezing the statue's knees. "SKULL!"

"RRRAAAGGGHHH! CAPTAIN KIIIIIIIDD!" Skull's Persona took a long wind up before crashing into the statue. The stone sculpture, already having tilted slightly from the boy and his Persona's combined strength, fell forward more, before the ice covering its knees shattered, and caused the upper body of it to collapse directly on top of the Heavenly Punisher.

The CRUNCH of metal being crushed rang out, and the Shadow screamed as it was killed. The chapel became silent, besides some pieces of frozen stone falling to the ground and pews finally collapsing. He let his head hit the floor and groaned while he heard the sounds of their Personas vanishing and their masks reforming as Silky and Captain Kidd were dismissed.

"I… we need to get back… to the Safe Room…" He struggled to his feet, his breathing still ragged from being squashed against the stone pillar.

"Yeah, I think I'd be fine with leavin' and not comin' back for a while…"

"Mona, how is…?"

Mona sighed, Zorro gently laying the girl on one of the pews, her wound no longer gaping, but a thin red line was still visible, Zorro's healing skills not having been able to heal it fully before Mona had run out of energy. "She should be fine, but she's still unconscious."

"The shock from such a sight and attack must have knocked her out. We'll have to carry her."

"Oh—!"

"No. Skull, you're the only one of us who's strong enough," Mona wilted, "and still healthy enough to carry her. Once we're at a Safe Room we're going to rest until Panther is back on her feet and we can all run reliably. We can't fight, since the only one here who has any energy is Skull."

"You got it, Joker." He stalked over and squatted, grabbing Panther before sitting there awkwardly.

"Skull?"

"Uh, how should I carry her? I don't want another situation like, uh, that other time…"

"Oh for— just throw her over your shoulder or something."

"You shouldn't treat a woman like that! Especially not Panther!"

"Zip it," both boys spoke back deadpan. Sighing and deciding to do as he'd ordered, Skull picked up Panther and carefully placed her in the fireman's carry position, blushing slightly beneath his mask.

"A'ight, let's—" Skull was cut off when multiple explosions of ooze suddenly went off, and suddenly they were surrounded by knights. "Oh shit!"

"Where'd they come from?!"

"Mrow… we're surrounded!"

"Get them! For King Kamoshida!"

**Can thou think up a way out of this situation?**

'_I'm thinking, I'm thinking!'_ He looked around for any way out of their situation, as the knights charged towards them. Spotting what looked like a walkway above them, with metal scaffolding extending from it and holding several flower beds and pots, he immediately grabbed Skull's free arm, pointing it at the scaffolds. "Skull! Grapple, go, go!"

"Right!" His teammate shot his grappling hook out, trying to balance Panther on his shoulder as Skull flew up, while he bent down to let Mona jump onto his back before doing a flip over a guard, landing on another's shoulders, and launching his grappling hook upwards. Mona yowled as they began flying up, and he used his momentum to jump up over the beam and land expertly on the platform next to it, while Skull struggled to climb up onto it.

"Whew… nice grappling, Joker!"

"Y-Yeah, nice job, now could you help me up?!" After grabbing Skull's arm and pulling him up, they all breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay… what now, Joker?"

"We can't go back to the last Safe Room…" The floor below was still covered in guards, all yelling and waving their weapons up at them. He grimaced as a sensation of warning went down his spine, the security level of the Palace skyrocketing. "We'll just have to keep moving."

"Wait!" Mona suddenly hopped off his shoulder and reached into his fanny pack, digging around inside of it. "I can't believe I forgot about these things… Here!" He raised an eyebrow as the cat handed him some kind of orb. It looked similar to a smoke bomb capsule, but written on it was the term 'Goho-m.' "These things will take us straight to the entrance of the Metaverse whenever we use them!"

"Well that's useful," he smirked. "Alright, let's see if this works!" He threw it against the floor, causing it to shatter and a golden smoke to explode out, surrounding them. He closed his eyes and felt as though the ground had vanished out from underneath him, causing his stomach to drop, before he felt solid ground beneath him again. When he opened his eyes, he found that they were back at the drawbridge outside the castle.

He let out a small disbelieving laugh, before falling to the ground, splaying his arms and legs out. "Thank god," Skull groaned, sitting down and laying Panther next to him. "Joker, I'm goin' on, ah, what's the word… Ah, yeah, strike."

"I feel the same… we are not coming back here for a few days at least." They all breathed for a few minutes, before he reached into his pockets and retrieved some of the medicine purchased from Takemi. "Here, everyone heal up, Mona doesn't have the energy to cast anymore Dias."

"What about you?"

"I'm saving my energy to use Dia on Panther." He turned and raised an eyebrow at Skull. "If you hadn't noticed, she's still unconscious. So we'd need to give her the medicine ourselves. By feeding an unconscious girl. Meaning we'd need to stuff the pills down her throat. And if she wakes up while—"

"Alright, alright, I get it! I get it!" Skull coughed into his fist and turned away, causing him to snicker.

"Pixie, do you mind?"

_Nope! _Pixie popped into existence as he removed his mask, and she fluttered over Panther's body. "_I'm happy to help, Mister Joker!" _Given the fact that Panther's suit had repaired itself long beforehand, he couldn't exactly check whether the wound on her stomach had fully closed yet, so he had Pixie continue to heal her until he was fully out of energy.

As for the rest of them, they began swallowing the pills, grimacing at having to do so without any water. Another wonder of the Metaverse was how the simple cognition of the world that 'medicine heals people' let the small pills, which were just painkillers and shouldn't have actually done anything to help their wounds close and bruises vanish, managed to do just that. That got him thinking though... what would happen if he brought in coffee, or soda? People thought those things energized people, so logically, it should have the ability to restore their energy...

"Looks like we'll need more medicine soon," Mona murmured, interrupting his thoughts, "should we visit Takemi tomorrow?"

"Yes, that's probably for the best. We'll—" Panther stirring drew his attention, but before he could do anything, Mona had run over and lifted her head.

"Panther, are you alright?!" He rolled his eyes at Mona, while Panther groaned and opened hers.

"Uh… what happened?"

"You got knocked the fuck out," he snickered.

"Joker!" Mona glared and chastised him, before turning to the girl. "Oh, Panther, I'm so happy to see that you're alright!" He saw her roll her eyes as she slowly sat up, holding her head.

"Yeah, thanks, Mona… wait, what happened to that big Shadow?!"

"Skull crushed it with Kamoshida's statue," he explained, "just in time, too, all of us were basically out of energy by that point."

"Hey, you're the one that came up with the plan to crush it! I couldn't think up somethin' like that myself! Oh, and Captain Kidd learnin' that Tarukaja thing helped a ton!"

"Tarukaja?"

"It's like, I'm… oh, that Tarunda thing your tear Persona uses, that like, weakens Shadows!" He hid a smirk as Saki Mitama made an offended noise in his head at being called a 'tear,' even though she technically was, while Skull continued. "Except, you know, the opposite, it powered me up a ton!"

"Sounds useful… now can we please get out of here? I just want to go home and sleep…"

"Can't sleep without doing your homework first, Panther."

"Ugh…"

"Eff that. I'm definitely jus' sleepin' the second I get home."

"Have fun getting shit grades."

"I was already gettin' shit grades, not doin' homework'll change nothing!"

"Uh-huh." They all began snickering, before outright laughing. "Well, let's get going, and take a few days off. We all really need it."

"Agreed."

"Yeah."

"Smart move, Joker."

He got up and let Mona jump onto his shoulder, before leading everyone to the Metaverse's exit and tapping at his phone, leading the world to distort before they were spat out in the alley by the entrance of the school. The pain and exhaustion immediately slammed down onto them tenfold, and everyone silently looked at each other in pain, while Morgana jumped into his bag.

"Alright, let's divvy up the spoils we got today, then head home." He reached past Morgana, grabbing the money that had made from killing Shadows that day, counting it up before dividing it between them. Ryuji and Ann each got twenty-five percent, while he got fifty percent. The only reason he got more was that while half of that fifty percent was for himself, the other half would be for supplies and weapons, which he was, of course, in charge of purchasing. "Well… I'll see you all in class, tomorrow."

"See ya, Aki, Ann, Monamona."

"Don't call me that, Numbskull!"

Ann laughed as Morgana hissed, rubbing the back of her neck. "Yeah, see you guys tomorrow."

* * *

**The Heavenly Punisher... the only mini-boss I really had trouble with when trying to complete Palaces in one day on a New Game, but that's only really because I kept trying to get through the battle with everyone still conscious. Plus, it's so early in the game that you don't have enough max SP or good Personas to absolutely body it. And fun fact, this chapter was originally going to be called 'The Hierophant and the Heavenly Punisher, since I always name chapters with a new Confidant as such, and because the HP was a major part of the latter portion of the chapter.**

**Also, thanks for the reviews last chapter! Like I had said, I was already leaning towards The World as Sapphire's Arcana, and it seems like you guys agree that it would fit better. Also, HiIExist gave a great idea for Sapphire's Persona. I had already pretty much finalized the design and all that before the story had started, as well as what its name would have been, but I'd forgotten about the Personas' Second Awakening... So I'll definitely be using your idea as a reference to what that Second Form should be! Thanks again for the idea, HiIExist!**

**I'm sure some who've played the game are wondering why I had Akira order Ryuji to push down the statue to take down the Heavenly Punisher. That's because I loved the 'Special Orders' you could use during boss fights, but felt that they were underutilized. They only ever appeared for a few of the Palace Ruler boss fights, and I get why, normal battles go by too quickly for 'Special Orders' which can take multiple turns to complete, but I still liked the idea enough that I want to incorporate it more into the battles. **

**Now, I normally update this story on the 14th of every month, but with the problems Fanfiction has been having with new chapters not appearing, I'm uploading this a week in advance in the hopes that it'll be up by then, just in case. Not much else to say for this chapter, so leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read. See y'all next time!**


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